Daria's Great Adventure
by dmsfanman
Summary: Time passes and Daria is at a point in life where there is an opportunity for one last great adventure. She chooses a very big adventure. It is one with no guarantees even of return! While certainly out of her comfort zone, Daria finds that even great adventures can reflect the day to day life she has known before. It is also time to reflect on her life.
1. Chapter 1: Sardines

**Chapter 1: Sardines**

The seat was not all that comfortable. Daria looked at the back of the seat in front of her. The display showed the date – December 6, 2043. It all seemed a little surreal. Only a few weeks ago she had celebrated her sixtieth birthday. Now she was off to a totally new life. Everything was left behind. Daria had retired from Lawndale State University. The house was sold. The cars were sold. The children were all grown and had their own lives. The remaining possessions she had were either given to her children, sold or placed in a storage unit. All her other material possessions were in a 10 kg (22 lb) box.

There was a metallic clank. The sound was muffled through her helmet. Then she started to feel herself fall. No matter how much she trained or anticipated the feeling it was still jarring. She moved her hand slightly and touched Tom's hand. Daria started counting down from ten. Just as she got to one she felt the back of the seat slam into her. Her body was pushed deep into the seat – but only so deep. The padding wasn't that thick. Daria would have characterized it as being hit by a bus, but that would have been a little too poetic. Still, with the engine of the SolarGallactic craft's second stage firing at full thrust she effectively weighed two and a half times what she did on the ground.

After about three minutes another loud metal clank signaled the first auxiliary fuel tank being jettisoned. The engine continued to fire for another three minutes and then the second and final auxiliary tank was sent back to Earth and Daria experienced weightlessness in space for the first time – well, microgravity to be exact. Looking out the window she could see that the sky was now black and the world below a curved sea of blue.

The pilot came on and said, "Please stay in your seats for the duration of our flight. Keep your helmets on and connected to the oxygen system. We should be rendezvousing in about 45 minutes and expect to be docked about 15 minutes later."

Microgravity was definitely different than the freefall Daria had experienced in the 'vomit comet' – an airplane which flew flight paths leading to freefall and the ensuing simulation of weightlessness. Overall it was far less nauseating. Still, Daria was glad she had taken the anti-nausea medicine before boarding.

Daria looked out the tiny window again. The Earth was clearly receding as they gained altitude. The stars no longer twinkled. Daria closed her eyes and tried to relax. She dozed off almost immediately despite her excitement.

…..

Daria awoke to the sound of the pilot's voice. "We have successfully rendezvoused with the MTV. It will now take about 15 minutes to dock." MTV – the Mars Transit Vehicle – would be home to Daria and Tom for the next two months.

Daria looked out her window and saw the MTV hanging there in space. Along the centerline she first saw the engine nacelle. Above it were the fuel tanks. Above those she saw the habitat and then the Mars Landing Craft or MLC. The ship's name "DaVinci" was clearly painted on the side of the habitat. There were three MLCs attached to the MTV. The MTV stayed in space. Its job was to move people and equipment between Earth orbit and Mars. The MLCs had only one job – get people and cargo from the MTV to the Martian surface. Then each would be cannibalized and used in fabricating habitats and other necessities. Remembering stories of early explorers of the vast Pacific Ocean she hoped that would be all that got cannibalized! On this voyage each MLC would take 12 people plus cargo to the surface.

Daria felt a slight jolt and once again the pilot came on and started speaking, "Folks we are now docked. As soon as the airlock is opened I want you to exit row by row beginning with the first row on the port side. Stay belted until it is your turn to exit. Remember to move yourself forward using the handholds. You cannot walk in zero gravity! Keep your helmets on until you have passed through the habitat airlock. The MTV crew will show you to your quarters and where to stow your suits. This is where I will be leaving you. Have a great trip to Mars!"

One by one people started unbuckling, getting up, and gingerly moving to and through the airlock. Tom got up and in the aisle looked back at Daria. She was unbuckling as he started to move forward. She followed him through the airlock.

The space she entered was essentially a cramped cylinder with an arrow pointing the direction toward the habitat module. The opposite direction was just an airlock door. So, Daria followed Tom up the ladder toward the habitat module. Of course, one didn't really climb the ladder. The rungs were just used as handholds to propel you along.

At the top of the ladder Daria found herself in a more spacious area. Looking around the décor was pretty much 'early submarine.' Every pipe, every cable and every wire was visible on the wall. In the space an MTV crew member was waiting. People floated around the room.

A crew member removed her helmet and the new arrivals did as well. "OK. Welcome to the MTV. I will call out your cabin number and then you will proceed there, change out of your flight suits and put on your coveralls. You will see that there are 3 pairs of coveralls in your closet. Wear a fresh set each day and when you put on your last clean pair put the others in the laundry. Your names are on each, so you need not worry about any getting lost. Same thing goes for underwear. You are allowed a shower every other day, unless you are particularly dirty. When you are done go forward to the dining room. You will get further orientation there. Oh, and put on your black boots not the red boots. Both are in your closet."

Daria followed Tom to their 'quarters.' Daria opened the sliding door.

Tom commented, "It is nice to be able to talk to each other again."

Looking into the room Daria replied in total deadpan, "Yeah. That was some ride! Now look at what we have here."

Depending on which metaphor you wanted to use it was either the size of a walk-in closet or a powder room. Either way it wasn't much bigger tha meters (6 ft 6 in square). Since this was a zero gravity area there was no bed. There were two sleeping bags – more like sacks – hanging on the wall. No need for a bed when there was no force pulling you down. Across from that was a set of built-in drawers and a monitor with a camera so it could be used as a mirror. Just outside of their quarters – one on each side – was a place to hang their flight suits and a "closet," which was really more of a locker, with 3 sets of coveralls and 3 pairs of boots for each of them.

Tom remarked, "I guess the bathroom is down the hall or whatever you want to call it."

"Joy," Daria replied. "Well, we didn't expect a cruise ship. From what I have read this is pretty spacious and luxurious for a spaceship." Turning around she looked at Tom and said, "But at least I get the opportunity to tell you that you are 'off the wall!' my love."

Tom put his arms around Daria and kissed her. That in itself was quite a feat without hitting anything.

Daria and Tom each changed their clothes. They noticed after strapping on their boots that the footwear seemed to stick to the deck. That certainly made it more normal to get around. At least they didn't float off as easily. Tom gave Daria another kiss before they headed forward to the dining room.

…

It was a strange sensation sitting in the dining hall. Daria's boots kept her on the deck. She was sort of sitting on a chair, but really kind of floating there. Meals should be interesting.

"Welcome to the DaVinci. I am Captain Goodman," the Captain said in a clear Texas drawl. "As you know, we will be spending the next two months together onboard this ship. Most all of the aspects of this voyage have been part of your training, but let me review a few key ones here. The most important thing is for everyone to get along. I expect polite and professional behavior at all times. While this is not a military vessel, nevertheless I am the final authority here under maritime law. I expect my orders to be obeyed. Once we are under way you will each receive a duty roster. Each of you has a role to play in this voyage even before you get to Mars. Also, you are expected to spend at least 3 hours per day exercising. Exercise is to take place in the rotating ring. The ring rotates at a speed which creates the equivalent of thirty eight percent of Earth gravity – that is Martian gravity. Now you all need to get down to the loading bay and stow all of the cargo brought on your flight. You need to hurry. The next flight will be here in less than two hours and the final flight three hours after that one. Oh, one more thing. We will have drills at random times. You must fully participate in each drill. Your life might depend on what you learn. Now listen to First Mate Stevenson as she gives you your first orders."

Daria listened as the first mate issued orders for people to go and stow gear. She looked at Tom and shrugged as the two of them went to the receiving area. It took almost two hours to get everything stowed either in the cargo bay or other parts of the ship. The cycle repeated itself with the arrival of each shuttle. Finally after almost 8 hours the cargo and other materials were all stowed. Dinner was announced, so Daria and Tom headed for the dining room.

Dinner was wrap sandwiches, salad, and iced tea or water – all in plastic pouches. At this point the goal was to feed everyone, now numbering over 40, and get underway. Daria and Tom had eaten "space food" during their training, but this was different. The sensation of eating was different. There was no gravity for the food to slide down your throat. You had to intentionally swallow and force it down. This required taking small bites. Well, it was certainly better than eating everything as paste like the early astronauts! One thing about Mars – they would be able to eat off of a plate again.

As people were finishing their dinners, the first mate stood up and announced, "Everyone needs to go to their quarters and get into their sleeping bags. These will provide sufficient restraint as we start up the main engines. The force created through firing ion engines is small, but the continuous thrust will propel us to the speed we need to reach Mars in just two months. Once we have the engines at steady state, we will go for trans-Mars injection. Once we are on the way to Mars, then we will call it a day and everyone can bed down for the night. Tomorrow we will start the ship's routine. Breakfast is at 0800 and we will be making assignments at 0830. Your room monitors will display ship's information on channel 2. I suggest you keep your monitors on to keep abreast of developments."

Daria and Tom were secured in their sleeping bags which 'hung' on the wall. Of course with no up or down even 'hanging' was a relative thing. Maybe attached to the wall was a better term. The two watched as the big ion engines were fired. The feeling of gravity returned, though only very slightly. The deck was now definitely 'down.' Even so, the force was so small it would be no problem sleeping in their current position.

"So long kids," Tom said.

Daria retorted, "You know they can't hear you."

"Even so, it will be years before we see them again."

Daria looked at Tom and said in her lecture voice, "They have their own lives, Tom. Sure they will miss us and we will miss them. We can return in five years if we want or we can stay for the full ten. Either way, this is our adventure. Neither of us has done anything this crazy in our entire lives. Besides, our kids and grandkids can tell our great-grandchildren that we were some of the first people to live and work on Mars! Anyway, we can send a video to them daily and they can reply. It is not like we were off to the New World on the Mayflower or something!"

Tom was quiet for a moment and then replied, "Yes, professor, you are right. Let's get some sleep." Tom reached over and turned out the light. From her breathing he could tell that Daria was asleep almost immediately. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep either.

Breakfast was good. Because there was some minimal "gravity" due to the MTV's acceleration the galley was able to cook and serve some real food. Today they got steak and eggs, which was a tradition stemming from the pre-flight steak and eggs breakfasts the early astronauts ate. Daria and Tom sat with another couple, Ben and Ruth, and discussed what they would be doing on Mars. Daria's Martian Professional Specialty (MPS) was as log maintenance and media specialist. This meant that she would be in charge of maintaining the master colony log by integrating the commander's log with other individual logs and create an ongoing and detailed narrative for the colony. As media specialist she would be the "librarian" and also select programming and entertainment for the colony as a whole. The media specialist was tasked not only with maintaining databases of books – of which there were only a few made of paper – and other media, but she was also responsible for seeing that research reports were written and archived in the proper databases. As usual in this sort of endeavor, her MPS was not the whole story. Because the colony was still very much under construction everyone had a Martian Vocational Specialty (MVS) as well. Daria's was welding. Most of her work as a welder would be managing welding robots crawling around on the habitat structure now under construction. However, there would likely be times when the robots would be unable to create certain welds. Then it would be Daria's chance to go in and lay down a welding bead! During her training she had passed the tests for well over a dozen certifications. Tom's MVS was as a heavy equipment operator. His MPS was resource management.

Breakfast concluded and Daria looked at her list of assignments. Her Vehicle Crew Responsibility (VCR) was as bridge crew – life support monitoring. Each person onboard had an MTV VCR. Tom's was maintenance supervision. It was clear to Daria that the reason everyone had a VCR was to keep them busy. The monitoring and even supervision could have been completely supported through the Digital Virtual Director (DVD). From her training Daria knew there was an MTV DVD, but on the way to Mars it was not being used – at least not being directly used – in order to have something for everyone to do in transit.

Daria's days would be full. She had two 4 hour shifts on the bridge, three hours of exercise split into three one hour sessions: before her first shift, after her first shift, and after her last shift. There was also an hour per day when she had to use the virtual reality simulation system (VRSS) to practice her MVS and then another two hours of work relating to her MPV. That left two hours per day to eat and have some recreation time before getting 8 hours of sleep. At least they got two half-days off each week.

Daria was glad that she and Tom would see each other at meals, which were scheduled after her exercise periods, and then again after their workdays were done. The thought briefly entered her mind that maybe one of these days they wouldn't be totally exhausted after the workday. Then they could actually try lovemaking in the very low gravity and once acceleration was done they could try it in zero gravity. There had to be some value to all of this!

Well, it was time to put on her flight suit, grab her helmet and report to the bridge. Bridge crew had to report in flight suits and bring their helmets. Should something happen the bridge crew needed to be immediately able to just put on a helmet and connect to the life support and communication systems. That way they could direct any emergency operations from the bridge. Spending her day in a flight suit left Daria longing to change back into coveralls and get that every other day shower.


	2. Chapter 2: Wholly!

**Chapter 2: Wholly!**

It was the fifth week into the flight. They had been in zero gravity with the engines off for quite a few days, at least it seemed that way. They were still a couple of weeks from needing to restart the ion engines to slow down so they did not miss Mars completely. All of the people and cargo destined to land would have to be released quickly once they arrived, because MTV itself would not be going into orbit. It would go around Mars to take advantage of the slingshot effect. That plus firing the engines would send it back to Earth.

Daria was looking at her displays and acknowledging that values were nominal when through her seat she felt a slight shudder. That's when her displays started changing from nominal. Keeping her eyes on the display Daria shouted, "Captain, I am showing Section 27 with dropping air pressure, a massive leak in the carbon dioxide scrubbing system and multiple electrical failures. The drill light is not on!"

Captain Goodman replied, "Acknowledged Ms. Sloane." Then he started issuing orders. "Ship systems sound pressure alert. All hands into flight suits. Seal off Section 27. Damage control party to Section 27 in space suits. Life support, secure flow to the scrubber in Section 27. Then increase airflow to the section. Try to keep the pressure up for anyone who may be trapped there."

Daria and the others on the bridge received their orders and replied, "Aye, sir." Then they carried them out.

"Captain," the helmsman said. "We are starting to drift. Based on what I am seeing my guess is that we are losing air on two sides of the ship."

"Roger," the captain replied. "Compensate with thrusters as needed. Keep us on course."

Daria was moving quickly to get air flowing into Section 27 and making certain that no other sections were damaged Fortunately, the ship was built with three independent scrubbers each capable of carbon dioxide scrubbing for the whole ship. From what she was hearing and seeing on the displays her guess was that something had struck and possibly gone through the ship. Daria was trying to remember where Tom was working that day.

Over the communications system the bridge crew heard, "Damage control Team 1 reporting. We have what appear to be two hull breeches and one major injury. We are applying a tourniquet now. We need a vacuum to catch all these blood balls floating around! "

"Emergency medical is on the way," was the reply.

"Damage control Team 2 is on the way and we are bringing four hull patch kits. We are also bringing a hand vacuum." Daria was listening and that was definitely Tom's voice in the reply. Daria was a little worried, but also quite busy. She anticipated that since damage control parties moved in from fore to aft that at some point she would need to isolate Section 26 so that it could be used as a staging area for repairs in Section 27. As part of the damage control protocol she had already shut down fresh airflow into Section 26 in favor of bolstering airflow to Section 27. Both sections were equipment spaces, so they were cramped and not very many people were routinely in those spaces. An airlock separated the two sections as well as separating Section 26 from Section 25. Airlocks throughout the ship prevented loss of pressure in one section from affecting another section.

Now came the hard part – listening and waiting. Daria had done all she could do from her station. She was watching the air pressure in Section 27 very closely. The temperature was already down to 10 degrees C (50 F) and dropping.

"Emergency medical has the patient secured and we are moving him forward to Sick Bay. Can somebody find his hand down here?"

"Bridge. Damage control Team 2 here. We can see one of the hull breaches. It is about 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter. We can see the stars through it. Whatever it was broke through this point from the inside. We are applying a patch. I think the other hole is behind the scrubber. We are going to have to take the scrubber apart in order to reach it. The thing is a mess."

"Go ahead with disassembly," Captain Goodman replied. "Do you have any estimate on time to repair the scrubber?"

"None at this time," Tom replied.

"Verify that everyone in the compartment is in a full space suit," the Captain stated.

"Roger," Tom replied. About a minute later he said, "Verified. All personnel are in full space suits."

Turning to Daria the Captain ordered, "Verify that all airlocks to Section 27 are shut and then shut off all airflow to the section. Keep the hull heaters running."

"Aye, Captain," Daria replied as she executed his order. Once done she reflected that this seemed almost surreal. Tom was now working in an area that was the closest thing to open space. Sure he was wearing a space suit. Still, it made Daria more than a little nervous. It would probably take several hours to disassemble the carbon dioxide scrubber and patch the hole. Then Tom and his crew would have to figure out how to repair the scrubber. They would repressurize before repairing the scrubber, but still it would be a major task.

The Captain turned to the communications officer and ordered, "Contact Houston and inform them of our problem. Tell them we have it under control and are proceeding with the mission. A full repair of Section 27 will be needed when DaVinci returns to Earth."

"Aye, Captain," the communications officer replied as she executed his order.

Tom was looking at the heavily damaged – maybe destroyed – scrubber unit. His VCR as supervisor of the ship's systems unit was not because of his technical expertise. He was an accountant after all. It was because of his experience running a company. He knew how to organize and manage both people and projects. Being an accountant gave him a strong background paying attention to details. On a spaceship the details could kill you and everyone else. The systems themselves he had learned in training for the mission. His maintenance group was composed of senior engineers and technicians who knew the materials, construction, and operation of the systems inside and out. They knew both the theory and practice behind them. No one in his unit had less than 25 years of experience in their areas of expertise.

As the maintenance crew disassembled the scrubber they duct taped the parts together not for function, but to keep them together so that they didn't get lost. With a big hole on the opposite side of the scrubber there was no telling how many parts had been lost already. The bundles were then taped to the opposite wall. On top of that they had to be very careful with many of the parts. The strike had created a substantial amount of twisted and sharp metal. The compartment was approaching vacuum and the last thing they needed was someone's suit decompressing due to a cut in the material.

The simple act of turning a wrench in zero gravity is a feat in and of itself. You are more likely to spin yourself than the nut or bolt. Therefore you need to be properly braced so that the torque is applied to the intended item. This too was a challenge. But, gradually the scrubber came apart. When the crew found debris from the object which hit them they bagged it for later analysis.

It was almost two hours after he first entered the section that Tom could see the entry hole in the hull. It was actually slightly smaller than the first one – probably 8 cm (3.25 inches) in diameter. He reported the damage to the Captain and proceeded to have his crew patch it. An hour later the hole was patched and the material cured.

"Captain," Tom said over his link.

"What is the status down there," the Captain replied.

Tom stated simply, "We are ready for a pressure test." This would be a significant and somewhat dangerous step in the repairs. Tom fully expected the patches to hold. That is what they were designed to do. However, there was always the possibility they could blow out and they would have to do the job all over again – not to mention the risk of injury or death.

Captain Goodman turned to Daria, "Increase pressure to ship normal, but slowly. It should take about a half-hour to reach that level. When fully pressurized shut off airflow into the section. We will make certain there is no leakage."

"Aye, Captain," Daria deadpanned and carried out the order.

Tom stated, "We have an hour left in our tanks."

Captain Goodman replied, "Acknowledged. When you are done down there we will need calculations on hull integrity." Turning to the helmsman he went on, "Helm, you will need to recalculate the engine firings so that we do not exceed our hull integrity."

The helmsman replied, "Aye, Captain."

Daria watched the pressure rise and prayed that everything held. Tom's spacesuit kept him as safe as he could be given that he was in that section. The indicators finally reached normal internal pressure and held their values. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Captain Goodman got out of his chair. "Secure from hull breach alert," he said. "I'm going to go to Sick Bay and check on our wounded." With that statement he left the bridge.

Daria was thankful that the rest of her watch went without anything happening. The patches seemed to be holding and Tom was out of Section 27. Now the maintenance crew was mainly moving the parts from the scrubber to the machine shop. From their message traffic it sounded like the engineers would be busy redesigning the unit so that it could function again. The engineers back in Houston would be working on the same problem.

When Daria's relief arrived she quickly briefed him on what had happened. Then she headed for the gym. The daily exercise required was probably the thing she liked least about going to Mars, but she understood why it was needed. Today it would certainly work off some of the tension. She was looking forward to being finished with it and seeing Tom back at their quarters. Then they could have some dinner together and call it a day. Maybe they could have a little zero G fun tonight to work off the last of the tension! Daria kind of liked the fact that out here gravity didn't win. Some things which sagged under gravity on Earth returned to a certain level of perkiness out here!


	3. Chapter 3: Thump!

**Chapter 3: Thump!**

Daria thought to herself that it was a good thing she was not particularly claustrophobic. Laying here on the seat in the MLV with a dozen of her closest friends was kind of like being packed in a can of sardines. Tom was next to her and that was a good thing. The MLV was designed for a one-way trip – orbit to the Martian surface. She sure hoped that it would work as advertised. One of the people on board was the 'pilot,' but that was mostly in name only. The computers would guide the craft. The pilot only took over if there was a massive computer failure, which was very unlikely. Daria was just as glad that it was the computers at the helm.

There was a distinct 'clunk' and the MLV shuddered slightly as it separated from the MTV. Daria caught a final glimpse of the MTV as they fell away from it. She momentarily wondered if she would ever see it again. Would she and Tom wind up spending the rest of their lives on Mars? Would they survive to their 5 year and 10 year decision points? They were already 60 and there would be no real retirement on Mars, not to mention needing to be healthy long term. Of course, she wanted to see her children again. She would also like to see Jane. Video letters were one thing, but not the same as touching, hugging and feeling the skin of her children or Jane for that matter.

Tom reached over and squeezed Daria's hand. They were beginning to get sensations of motion, which meant the MLV was starting to have contact with the atmosphere. It was just moments before the buffeting began as they came into the aerobraking phase of the landing. Soon it became the shaking rollercoaster ride that didn't seem to have an end. A bright red glow was visible out the window as the heat shield ablated under the intense frictional heat of atmospheric entry. Even Mars' thin atmosphere, which at the surface was about as dense as the air a transcontinental airplane flight finds at cruising altitude, could really slow the craft.

There was another noticeable shaking as the parachutes deployed. The aerobraking was over and now they would be slowed by parachutes for a while. Unfortunately, the thin Martian atmosphere was unable to fully slow them under parachute. Daria caught herself holding her breath for the final phase of their descent to begin. If this didn't work as planned, then there would be a very big 'splat' on the Martian surface!

Finally, there was a sharp noise and a shaking as explosive bolts blew the heat shield off of the MLV. A moment later Daria heard, though maybe it was more like felt, the retro rockets firing. Now they were in the final phase of descent. The process that started over an hour ago was now in its final moments. In less than three minutes the MLV would be sitting on the surface of Mars or they would all be dead. There was no middle ground here. At last she felt the MLV settle onto the surface.

The pilot looked out his window and made the statement to all in the MLV and over the radio that had become a tradition, "Houston. I see a red planet all around us!" To date the first word spoken upon any human landing on a body in space was 'Houston.'

It would be 20 minutes before that message was received. It was pretty much pro-forma. The fact is that they were on their own. Soon a different message came over the radio, "MLV One this is Rover One. Welcome to Mars! We are about 20 minutes from your position. Please have everyone run a full suit check on their suits and prepare the MLV for opening. Everyone leaving the MLV will need to bring their umbilical cord with them. They will use it to plug into the air system on our transports. We are bringing two transports. Each will hold nine people."

The pilot responded, "Roger Rover One. We are looking forward to seeing you. MLV out. OK everybody you heard the man. Do a complete suit check and report the results to me."

Daria began the process of a detailed check of her suit. She and Tom started out by doing the best visual check of each other's suits they could. Then she started the automated checks. The check covered everything from pressure containment to heating and cooling. Externally it even covered checking that the umbilical cord was correctly screwed on and had not skipped any threads. All-in-all the complete suit check took about 15 minutes. She reported to the pilot, "Daria Sloane – all systems green."

The pilot responded, "Daria Sloane – check."

Moments after the final response on suit checks there was a knock at the door. Over the radio Daria heard, "MLV One. Are you ready for hatch opening?"

"Roger," The pilot responded. "Pressure is at 6 millibars. You are clear to open the hatch."

As the hatch was opened sunlight streamed into the cabin. The thought came to Daria's mind that this was the first time in two months that she had seen sunlight filtered through an atmosphere. Carefully Daria leaned over and pulled her personal item carrier out from under the seat and carefully made her way to the hatch.

She blinked as she exited the MLV. It was so much different seeing true ambient light than just seeing the sun as a bright orb in the blackness of space. It was also the first time in two months that she had felt real gravity under her. The rotating MTV exercise ring was fine, but it was not the real thing and it was just large enough not to make one motion sick when simulating Martian gravity.

Daria followed Tom to a waiting rover. The rover was outfitted with one seat on each side of the vehicle. The two found seats across from each other, stowed their personal effects, sat down, and plugged in their umbilical cords.

Tom looked over at Daria and motioned for her to turn on her private channel to him. She did. Then he said, "Well, it looks like we are on the bus to our new home. What do you think?"

"I'm speechless. We walked here on the surface of another world. This will be our life's greatest adventure. My head is spinning from all the thoughts in it. At some point I just need to sit down and start writing."

"Maybe we should start with a video mail message to the kids and I'm sure you will want to send one to Jane."

"At least they will know that we arrived on the surface OK. Houston will send a message to all family members. I wish our parents could get the message."

"Our parents being gone is probably the biggest reason we decided that we could come on this jaunt," Tom said sympathetically. "Maybe they know about it."

Daria looked out the window as the transport started moving. The transit time from their landing area to the habitat was expected to be about an hour. As the scenery moved past Daria found it to be oddly beautiful, though it was devoid of life. She was actually surprised at the variations in color! The red planet was not the relatively uniform red that she had expected.


	4. Chapter 4: Letter from Home

**Chapter 4: Letter from Home**

"So how is life on Mars?" Jane asked. "I still have a really hard time imagining you welding. I just can't imagine you contorting yourself to weld in weird positions! I know the aches and pains I have when I get up in the morning. It isn't like you don't have some arthritis too. Good grief, it is not like we are in high school anymore or riding in the back of The Tank on top of a trunk. Goodness knows I am old enough now I need padding on my butt, though I guess I should be glad that at our age my butt doesn't carry around too much of its own padding. Jim tells me I have a cute butt, but I think he is just trying to stay in my good graces so I will keep having sex with him. By the way, how is the sex on Mars?"

"Anyway, getting back to what I was originally saying, the image of you welding is kind of funny. I can just see you contorting yourself and Tom operating a backhoe or some other such piece of equipment. And you are doing it all in space suits! It makes me laugh and sooner or later I am going to have to do a painting of this. Come to think of it, why don't you send me a few pictures of you two at work? Maybe I can get some inspiration and I will paint something just for you."

Jane went on, "What is living like up there? You told me how you had quarters on the transport ship that were the size of a closet. Do you at least get something the size of a bathroom now that you are living in the habitat? What is the food like up there? I read that you are growing food in the Martian soil. Probably most of all my question is: What does Mars smell like? I would really like to know. Anyway, send me a reply when you can. I miss you Daria. Even though we have lived most of our lives in different cities, we could always see each other and talk over the phone. Now we can only do these video letters. In some ways it seems kind of retro. Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you. Say hello to Tom from both Jim and I. Bye." With that the screen froze with the image Jane used to tag her video letter.

Daria sat and stared at her monitor. Yeah, this was kind of retro. How long had it been since people wrote letters or even traded media of some sort – audio or video? Certainly it had been decades. Daria remembered writing and receiving letters in high school, especially rejection letters from publishers. Still, once she was in college she mostly communicated via email or made calls on her cell phone. Over time she switched to text messaging and video chatting. Now things back on earth were so integrated – at least in highly developed countries – you could send and receive messages, have conversations and even see people full-size using wrist bands or other small devices. For Daria this simply made communications more and more ephemeral. The people of their time would not leave a paper trail of their thoughts the way people had done up through the 20th century. The 21st century had already seen writing and printing on paper marginalized to the point where it was rather quaint. Why carry around heavy paper when you have a flexible device that looks like a sheet of paper and displays text, still pictures, and video? You can even have things displayed in front of you and all these devices understand you when you talk to them!

On Mars everyone used the electronics to the maximum, because who would want to pay to have heavy paper sent all the way from Earth? Yes there was some writing happening here, but instead of paper they used thin sheets of plastic and appropriate markers. But that writing was only temporary. The plastic sheets were recycled like everything else here. One day the plastic substituted for paper and the next it was a bottle with water in it. Of course for that matter the water was your urine yesterday. Good thing for distillation!

Daria jumped as Tom walked into their room and startled her.

"Did you get a letter from Jane?" Tom asked seeing Jane's image on the monitor.

Daria answered, "Yes. Yes I did. She has all kinds of questions and I need to answer her. We also need to record letters for the kids."

"Tell you what," Tom said. "I will go down the hall, grab a shower, and then we can go to the dining room and have some dinner. Let's talk about what we are going to tell the kids. Maybe that will help you think about what you want to say to Jane. You can decide whether we record something to send to the kids tonight or you do something for Jane."

"That's reasonable," Daria replied. With a half smirk she said, "Now go get clean Mr. Stinky. I don't want to go to dinner with a goat!"

"Ha ha," Tom replied. He leaned over, gave Daria a quick kiss and headed off to the community showers.

The next evening Daria sat in front of the monitor and said, "Monitor. Record video for Jane."

The monitor responded, "Recording will begin when you say start."

"Start," Daria commanded. "Hey Jane. Thanks for the letter. I really like hearing from you. It is such a shame that light is so slow that it takes 20 minutes for a message to reach you, probably more like 22 minutes by the time any message I send passes through the equipment and is actually delivered! Let me answer your questions about life here on Mars."

In total deadpan Daria started out, "The first thing you have to always remember is that Mars wants nothing more than to kill you. Here you have the opportunity to freeze, to suffocate, or to die a short but horrible death from decompression. That is assuming nothing falls on you or otherwise immolates you. Did I mention the radiation? Lacking a strong magnetic field the planet gets dosed with killer radiation if there is a big solar flare. Even without a solar flare we have to be constantly concerned about radiation exposure on the surface. That is why our habitat modules are covered with regolith – Martian soil. That shields us here. Even our vehicles have compartments where one can shelter from high radiation in an emergency. The new living tower we are building in the old lava tube will shield us from radiation through metal and rock."

"Think of Mars being the Roman god of war. Killing is what he does. Oh, and just for good measure the lower gravity will reduce the strength of both your muscles and bones. So, you need to keep up with a specific exercise regimen so that you can return to Earth someday and not have all your bones break the moment you step out onto the surface. Once you understand these things life is not bad."

Tom entered the room, walked over to Daria and kissed her on the cheek. Then looking at the monitor he said, "Hi Jane! Doesn't she paint a rosy picture of our life here? Hope everything is great with you and Jim. Bye." Tom picked up something off of his night stand and left the room.

"Monitor, pan room," Daria ordered. An image of their quarters immediately filled the screen. "This is our home right now, Jane. We live in a 3 meter by 3 meter (10 ft. x 10 ft.) room. We have a bed, a couple of night stands, two chairs, a monitor and hangers for our clothing. We can move around the bed and sit in the chairs, but that is about it. We have a monitor and narrow worktop under the monitor opposite the foot of the bed. You have to keep the chairs pushed in to get by. This is luxury living compared to the MTV. Showers, sinks, and toilets are still down the hall. But, at least there is a modicum of privacy. As for sex, well we can talk about that over a bottle of good wine when Tom and I are back on Earth and we come to spend a month with you since we are homeless."

"You asked about the food. It is getting better. We have about a third of our people working in the agriculture and fabrication areas. The same people also manage the recycling systems. After our ship arrived we now number a hundred. Anyway, we are now producing enough food to cover over half of our needs. The rest – heavily but not exclusively meat – is sent from Earth in freeze dried form. Water is something we have plenty of here. So, rehydrating food is no big deal. Still, it doesn't match the fresh stuff. We eat in a common dining room. The kitchen staff does a great job cooking for us. I would say that if the food was all fresh, then the quality of the meals would be up there with the country club. I keep hearing that we are trying to become self-sufficient in food in the next 18 months. The key will be the success we have in starting up a meat cultivation operation. That would give us an endless supply of New York strip, pork loin, and chicken breast, maybe even a couple types of fish. I hope it works out. I would love to have some fresh meat again. Then the only issue remaining for us then is how to make eggs. We may yet have to import some chickens. Oh, and milk. We still need to figure out how create milk."

"I need to comment about your thoughts on welding. For the most part I have learned to control a swarm of welding robots. They actually lay down 99+% of the welding beads. It is rare that I have to go to a spot and actually do a weld myself. So far that happens about once per week and it takes at most an hour – most of which is spent coming, going, and setting up the welder. So far I have not had to contort myself. There are limits to what you can do in a surface suit, because it limits your mobility. By the way, we are out there in surface suits not spacesuits. Even though the atmospheric pressure is too low for people it is not a hard vacuum. Also, the heating requirements are far less. Therefore, surface suits are much lighter and you have much more mobility than in a full spacesuit. "

"Your last question was about the smell. That is a much harder question, since you can't breathe the Martian atmosphere and live! You do, however, get some of the Martian soil in your nose in the airlock when you come in from the outside. I would call the smell dusty, rusty, stuffy, and dead. In the airlock there is an exchange of atmosphere with breathable air when you come inside. There is some automatic cleaning. The fans whip up the Martian atmosphere to make the dust on our suits and shoes airborne. Then the atmosphere is sucked into centrifugal filters to remove the dust. Finally, the Martian atmosphere is exchanged for air. However, there remains a certain characteristic smell I have noticed once the green light goes on and we can remove our helmets. That smell is like the iron smell you get from water heavy in iron or like putting your nose by an old rusty car. You also notice that there is some residual dust in the air and can sometimes feel it in your nose. The gas exchange in the airlock is not perfect. There is still a higher carbon dioxide level than regular air and that is left over from the Martial atmosphere. So, the airlock is a little stuffy. Finally, there is no hint of organic compounds like you find in soil on Earth. This world is dead. So, if you want to get some idea of the smell of Mars, then take powdered rust, mix it with fine sand in a plastic bag. Evacuate the air and put a little dry ice in the bag. Let the dry ice evaporate, shake the bag vigorously, and then open the bag and sniff what comes out. Don't stick your nose in the bag! I don't want you accidentally killing yourself! Just hold it away from yourself a little bit and take in the fragrance. Then you will have an idea of the smell of Mars."

"Now I have something for you. You always talk about the paintings you are doing, but now I can't visit you and see them. How about showing them to me in your next letter? I would love to see what you are working on. Are you and Jim planning to travel anywhere together soon? What are your kids doing? I think I have brought you up-to-date on ours. Anyway, take care. Give my love to Jim, too. Bye"

Daria commanded, "Monitor, end and send." With that the letter was off to Jane.


	5. Chapter 5: Martian Toast

**Chapter 5: Martian Toast**

Daria stood looking out over the rim of the crater recording video. The display in her helmet showed the view through the camera attached to her chest plate. Tom was standing next to her as they watched two geologists working on the side of the crater gathering rock samples. Daria didn't even really notice that she and Tom were holding hands. Right now her mind was wandering a bit. She was happy to be away from the welding robots and for that matter both welding and metal for a day. This was the part of her job here that she enjoyed – recording what happened in the colony and then turning it into a coherent narrative of the colony's life on Mars. This was why they needed an English literature professor. It was certainly not to run welding robots and inspect welds. One could certainly argue that things were a bit spartan in the colony, but they had everything they needed to survive and be reasonably comfortable so far from home.

Tom said over the radio, "We have 45 minutes of air left in our tanks. How are you two doing down there?"

Jason Bean, the colony's chief geologist, replied, "Just a couple of samples to go. It looks like this crater was both a meteor strike and a site of volcanic activity. It isn't often that you get both in the same place."

"That's great," Tom stated. "But you and Jenny need to finish up. Procedure says we should get in the airlock with no less than 15 minutes left in our tanks." Jenny was Jason's wife and noted for her expertise in volcanic rocks.

Daria was adjusting her posture and issuing orders to her camera, "Zoom in on the two people. Now focus on their hands." The picture showed the two handling rock samples and placing them almost lovingly in a collection sack.

As she was watching the picture, an alarm sounded in her helmet! It was a claxon followed by a broadcast from the control center. "Attention all Martians! Attention all Martians! This is a radiation alert! Repeat. This is a radiation alert! You have five minutes to get to shelter. Repeat. You have 5 minutes to get to shelter! This is not a drill! A major solar flare will result in high radiation levels on the Martian surface. This message will repeat in one minute." As soon as the message ended a countdown timer appeared in Daria's helmet. It showed 4 minutes and 40 seconds remaining. Tom immediately dropped Daria's hand and the two move to the rim's edge just above Jason and Jenny.

Tom's voice had the edge of being deadly serious, "C'mon you two. We have to go now. It is about a three minute walk back to the rover. Drop the sacks. We can come back for them after the radiation passes. After all they have been sitting out here for eons! Now move!" As driver of the rover Tom was in command of this expedition.

"We're coming," Jenny said as she carefully set down her bag of rocks and nudged Jason to get moving. Daria and Tom each extended their hands to help Jason and Jenny over the rim's edge.

The walk back to the rover seemed to take forever, though Daria new that it didn't really. She could see the countdown in her helmet. The hardscrabble ground didn't make walking especially easy. Daria was glad that the camera image was automatically stabilized, since it was still running. Twice on the way Jason tripped and nearly fell. The last thing they needed right now was to have to pick someone up off of the ground – not to mention the danger of a suit puncture.

With 90 seconds to go the rover was certainly within reach. Daria would compare it in size to a large inter-city bus, but it was more like a really big recreational vehicle – except that on Mars it had an airlock, four massive wheels on each side, and the rear third was shielded as a radiation shelter.

Tom was first inside the airlock and he helped the others get in. To say that it was tight would be an understatement. The airlock would normally be used with two people in full surface suits. Now they had to cram four inside. With 30 seconds remaining Tom sealed the door and pressed the button to pressurize the chamber. The chamber pressurized in 15 seconds. Tom then quickly opened the hatch on the other side and leaped to the roll down door. As he pulled it down the countdown showed: 4, 3, 2, 1. On "one" Tom had the door down and latched. It was only after Tom had secured the section of the rover that everyone was able to remove their helmets.

"Well that was exciting," Daria deadpanned. "It looks like we have successfully avoided toasted bone marrow today."

Jason and Jenny laughed nervously at Daria's comment. Jenny asked, "Would you turn on the radiation monitor, Tom?"

"Sure," Tom replied and switched on the monitor. The radiation monitor showed radiation levels in three areas: outside the rover, inside the rover at the driver's station, and inside the rover's shielded area. The scale used was simplified. It was a zero to ten scale. The numbers zero through four were green. The numbers five through seven were yellow. Red on the scale was eight to ten. After a few seconds the readings for outside of the rover were high in the yellow zone. At the driver's station it was low in the yellow zone and in the shielded area it was essentially zero. They were safe.

Tom turned to the others and said, "How about a good cold drink of water after all of that excitement?" He leaned over and opened a cabinet and took out their water bottles. He stood and filled each with the cold water generated by the rover's fuel cell. "Lemon anyone?" He asked. The others just nodded and he pulled out a small container of lemon juice and poured some in each bottle. After shaking each bottle he handed them to his thirsty passengers. Then he made his own and sat down.

"Well this is cozy," Daria finally said after drinking half of her water. She continued in total deadpan, "Here we are parked in one heavily shielded recreational vehicle – well a third of one anyway."

Jason laughed and it nearly sent lemon water through his nose! "Daria, I have never thought of our rovers that way, but you do have a point!"

Daria responded, "Well, when you think about it we drive these things out here ostensibly to collect samples or take some kind of observations. The part we don't mention is that on multi-day missions we are essentially camping. Admittedly, we don't make a camp fire or toast marshmallows. The Martian atmosphere has something to say about that. But still, we are spending out nights sleeping in cramped quarters and preparing meals on a tiny stove or in the microwave."

Jenny popped up with, "Well it certainly isn't like any camping trip I've ever been on."

Tom figured that getting a good conversation going would help keep morale up and everyone could relax a little bit. He said, "So, tell me about some of your camping experiences. As geologists you must have been to and camped in some interesting places."

Daria gave Tom a rueful look.

Jenny was the first to speak. "I think one of the most beautiful places we ever camped was in the painted desert. We were just out of graduate school and had our first faculty positions. We had received a grant to do some geological analyses in the Petrified Forest. It was May – just after school was out – and the temperature was not yet brutal during the day. In fact it still got rather cool at night." Looking at Jason she winked and went on, "I remember snuggling in our sleeping bags and then getting up to watch the sun rise. The colors were magnificent." Jenny reached over and grasped Jason's hand. "It's so hard to believe that 40 years have passed since that trip."

Jason chuckled, "I think we were more interested in each other than the work! I recall it being rather difficult to concentrate on finding and gathering the samples we needed." Looking at Jenny he smiled and said, "Things were so much more interesting in the tent – especially when it got dark!"

Jenny blushed at his comment.

Tom jumped in, "That is one thing Daria and I have not done in our marriage. We have not gone camping, unless you count some of the missions here."

"That's due to the memories I am still trying to suppress, dear," Daria deadpanned.

Tom pretended not to hear her remark. He continued, "I went on some camping trips as a Cub Scout. They were OK. I remember my last one. Lawndale is near the Appalachians, so I was camping in the mountains in a forest. I remember two things. The first was being eaten alive by mosquitos. Between the biting and the constant whine in my ears I was unable to sleep. Being dead tired made the hikes miserable. I finally fell soundly asleep on the last night. I was completely exhausted. That is when Billy Burdy decided it would be great fun to dip my hand in warm water while I slept. Needless to say my mother simply threw the sleeping bag away after that incident. It just wasn't worth cleaning. I haven't camped since."

Jason turned to Daria and asked, "What are your camping memories? You seem awfully reticent about discussing your experiences."

Daria was trying mightily not to roll her eyes. There was no reason to be rude to Jenny and Jason. She was a little irritated that Tom had chosen this particular topic of conversation. Camping was something that she utterly loathed, well tent camping anyway. "Let's just say that my outdoor experiences have not been very positive. One camping trip ended with evacuation by helicopter. Another we had to walk out in a blizzard. If we are going to experience the wild outdoors I much prefer the Sloane family lake house, where I can sleep on a bed and choose how much outdoor experience I want to endure. That is one thing about Mars. No bugs and no bears."

"No air," Jenny added.

"Precisely," Daria said. "Our life here may be somewhat spartan, but nothing is trying to eat me. I can live with everything on this planet trying to kill me. I have a suit and a nice pressurized habitat to sustain me. When we go out, we go out in these great recreational vehicles!"

Everyone had a good laugh at Daria's comments. Clearly the mood had lightened since having to hurriedly return to the rover. Tom said, "How about an old movie? I was just paging through what we have on board and we have 'The African Queen' with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. Talk about adventure!"

Daria quipped, "Watching a movie beats sitting here and watching each other age."

Jason and Jenny nodded their heads in agreement. Tom put on the movie and they sat and watched. At one point Jason got up to use the restroom. Tom paused the movie. Then he did the same when Jason returned.

Jenny leaned over to Daria and whispered, "That is the problem with our men when they get old. They can't sit through a movie anymore!"

Daria whispered back, "No kidding. I told Tom once that I was thinking of getting him a big clothespin."

Jenny giggled almost uncontrollably. The picture in her mind was just too funny.

Turning to Tom, Daria said somewhat loudly, "Hey bartender. How about another round of that water?"

Jenny nearly lost it. It took her almost two minutes to compose herself.

Meantime Tom refilled everyone's water. As he handed Daria her bottle he quipped, "Well, at least I don't get hot flashes."

Daria couldn't figure out what else to say to him, so she stuck out her tongue at her husband.

After the movie ended Tom distributed dinner. Another of his jobs as driver was to handle rations and see that everyone was fed and maintained their hydration. Dinner on these missions wasn't fancy. Tonight is was potato soup, chicken salad wraps, and a custard cup. He once again refilled everyone's water bottles. Over dinner they discussed the movie. When they were done Tom stowed the utensils and containers.

Turning and looking at everyone Tom said, "Now that we have all relaxed and had something to eat, I want to talk about getting back to the habitat. Night will fall in about two hours and with that the radiation will subside. I think we can make it back to the habitat overnight and be safely inside before dawn. The main thing we need to get going is for the radiation level in the driver's area to drop well into the green zone. My suggestion is that we all get a couple hours of sleep before taking off."

Everyone sort of grunted their general agreement. Then the bunks were deployed and they all laid down for a short nap. There was no doubt it would be a long night. Tom cut all of the lights except a dim one on a console. There were no windows in this section, so the darkness was total.

* * *

Daria checked her suit and then brought up her displays. She also checked the lights on her suit, which she might need to see where she was going. The plan was that Jenny and Jason would retrieve their sample bags before they started driving back to the habitat. Daria would assist by directing Tom as he turned the rover around. Turning a nearly 15 meter (50 ft) long and 3 meter (10 ft) wide vehicle around on rocky ground was not an easy task. Ground clearance was good and the wheels were designed to drive over substantial rocks, but there was nevertheless a limit.

The airlock opened and Jenny and Jason headed out to the crater. Daria could hear Tom saying to them, "Get those samples and get back here right away. We need to get going." Daria stepped outside the airlock and closed it behind her. Tom had switched on the exterior vehicle lights. They lit the area around the rover like it was daytime. Now it was Daria's job to check for obstacles as Tom backed up. The goal was to make a simple three point turn.

As the backup lights flashed, Daria watched about 2 to 3 meters behind. She called, "Tom stop. There is a boulder that will go right under the airlock, except that I think it is too tall. Let me get a measurement."

"Roger," Tom replied and stopped the rover.

Daria walked over to the boulder. Her suit included a laser measuring device and she checked the size of the bolder. She then instructed her computer to do some calculations. "You have 6 mm (0.25 in) clearance under the belly of the rover if all of the instruments are retracted. On your current track you should not scrape a wheel."

"Roger. All instruments are retracted. Backing," Tom reported.

Daria watched as the rover continued backing up and passed over the boulder. She quickly walked to a point where she could see all of the illuminated space behind. It looked like the backing maneuver would be successful. When Tom had completed backing up, Daria walked to the front of the vehicle. The lighting was much more intense in front and illuminated a good 50 meters (165 ft) in front of the vehicle and nearly as wide. She positioned herself off to the side so that as the rover turned she would see any obstacles.

"Go Tom," Daria said.

Tom drove the rover slowly forward and brought it around to face 180 degrees from where he had started. At that point he set the fuel cells to idle and turned off the forward lighting and the lights on the side away from the crater. Jason and Jenny should be able to easily see their way back to the rover.

…..

All Daria could hear was a scream over the radio. Inside the helmet it sounded like it was coming out of the center of her head. It wasn't, though she hit her virtual suit systems check button as she was trained to do. No, the voice in her head was Jenny.

"He's fallen. I think he is venting air!"

Daria hit her proximity display. It showed that Jason and Jenny were about 150 meters (495 ft) away and Tom was about 4 meters (13.5 ft) from her inside the rover. Jason's icon had turned red, which meant that there was a problem either with his suit or his vitals or both. Daria ordered over the radio, "Jenny! Get a grip on yourself. Time is survival."

Daria selected Jason's icon and it showed that his suit had powered up to keep survivable pressure inside. It had sealed around his waist and was pumping air into the top half and Martian atmosphere into the bottom half. These seals were not perfect, but they would keep you breathing until help was administered. It would be best if the tear was in his bottom half. The first priority was to administer an emergency patch to his suit.

"Feel for the tear. Roll him over if you have to," Daria stated, probably louder than was necessary. Jenny complied.

Daria waited for what seemed like an hour, but her emergency time counter showed that it was only a couple of minutes. Jenny shrieked, "Found it."

Daria started to walk her through what had been basic training back on Earth. "Now pull your patch kit off of the front of your suit. Open it and apply a patch to the tear. The area does not have to be clean."

"It's long enough I will need two patches," Jenny replied in a voice slightly less frantic then before."

Daria said, "I am walking over now. Once you have the patches on apply pressure to set the adhesive."

In her helmet Daria heard Jason shriek in pain as Jenny applied the pressure. That probably meant that he was sufficiently injured that he would need a stretcher. This time Daria heard Tom say, "I am on the way with a stretcher. We are going to have to carry him up the crater rim to get to the rover. I cannot drive down there."

Daria arrived first. She read Jason's suit status in her display and his vitals. He was still clearly scared and in a lot of pain. However, his suit was no longer leaking gas and the pressures were in the normal range. Daria sent a message to his suit that it should lower the internal pressure in the lower half by 138 millibars (2 psi). The suit complied. This would significantly reduce the stress on the patches while they moved him.

Shortly Tom arrived with the stretcher, which was really just a litter. As gently as possible they moved Jason onto it. They could all hear him groan and once even cry out in pain. Clearly they needed to get him back into the rover so that they could work on him. Jenny put the sample bag on Jason's stomach and took his hands. "Hold on to this and don't let go," she said. "I don't want this to be for nothing!"

The trip up the crater to the rover was pure torture for Jason. He was reasonably certain that his leg was broken and that there was a substantial cut on it. He believed that he could feel blood trickle along his leg perpendicular to the ground. Tom carried both handles at the front. Daria and Jenny each took one of the rear handles. The path was bumpy and they tried to avoid rocks. Once on the side of the crater Tom briefly lost his footing. He was able to regain it without hitting the ground. Still, it was enough to make Jason cry out.

Tom stated as they approached the rover, "I had to evacuate the air from the rover and open both the inner and outer airlock seals. I also set up the table so that we can get him onto it and get his suit off once we have brought air in the rover back to normal. I know this will be tough, but one more good heave and we will make our goal!"

Jenny took the sample bag off of Jason and set it next to the rover. Then Tom pulled and the women pushed to get Jason up and onto the table. He was still on the stretcher, but they let the sides just dangle over the edge of the table. Jenny retrieved the samples and Daria closed the inner and outer hatches of the airlock. Tom went up front to the control panel, where he evacuated the Martian atmosphere and restored the air that they could all breath. As soon as the pressure was back to normal the three standing crew members removed and stowed their helmets and packs. Now they could work on Jason.

Jenny began by removing Jason's helmet and releasing the straps on his backpack. Clearly Jason was in pain and he was pale. They slid his backpack out from under him so that he was lying flat. They would work on keeping him warm to prevent shock once he was out of the suit and his leg was addressed. Tom was working on removing his upper suit and Daria had started on his lower suit. There clearly was a bad cut on his leg. Jason had some frostbite around the wound as well. The 10 cm (4 inch) long wound was oozing blood, which at least indicated that an artery had not been severed.

Tom reached into the medical kit and grabbed a razor and started shaving Jason around his wound. Daria pulled out the medical scanner and started going over the wound. Tom finished shaving and grabbed the disinfectant. He irrigated the wound and the surrounding area. Jason screamed as Jenny tried to comfort him.

"The wound is over a centimeter deep," Daria stated. "Nothing major severed, but we need to close it. The scanner suggests using an adhesive sheet and then a bandage as a binding on top."

Stepping back Tom replied, "I had a hunch that would be what it recommended. Do it."

Daria reached into the medical kit and grabbed an adhesive sheet. Much like the sheets used to patch the tear on the suits, these sheets would hold a wound closed better than stitches. The sheets would also provide ongoing disinfectant. At the least it would be enough to get Jason back to the habitat to be seen by one of the doctors.

Tom and Jenny moved in and pushed the two sides of the wound together. Daria applied the sheet and held it until the adhesive had set. Then she pulled out a pressure bandage and placed it around Jason's leg over the sheet. Daria pulled a pre-loaded syringe from the medical kit and administered pain killer to Jason. Almost immediately he seemed to relax and his color began improving.

With Jason's immediate crisis over, Tom went forward and sat in the driver's seat. He began checking systems before they got started. "Rover 1. Run command level sequence."

"This is Rover 1. Speak or enter your command level sequence."

"Run diagnostic on MPS."

"Roger," the computer responded in a female voice with a slight British accent. After about 15 seconds it stated, "Mars Positioning System Unit failure. No output for any input. Do you have another command level sequence to enter?"

Tom quickly stated, "Yes. Run diagnostic on life-support system."

"Roger," the computer again responded. This time after just a few seconds it stated, "life-support systems nominal. Do you have another command level sequence to enter?"

Tom said, "Yes. Run diagnostic on drive systems."

"Roger," the computer replied. "Manual drive system nominal. Auto drive system failure. Wheel systems nominal. Obstruction detection system failure. Void detection system failure. Exterior lighting systems nominal. Camera system failure. Leveling system nominal. Propulsion system nominal. Power system nominal. Do you have another command level sequence to enter?"

Tom said, "Yes. Run diagnostic on radio systems."

The rover answered, "All radio systems nominal. However, a radio check indicates high levels of background interference. Neither digital nor analog signals will penetrate at this time. Possible connection if line-of-sight is established. Do you have another command sequence to enter?

"No," Tom replied.

"Returning to standby mode."

"Daria come up here please," Tom said with a strong tone of authority in his voice.

Daria left Jason, walked the length of the rover and sat in the passenger's seat. "What do you need?"

Tom said more quietly, "I need you in that chair being my eyes. We are going to have to drive back on full manual. So, I need you to watch for any boulders or other obstacles which might damage us. I will be trying to follow our tracks back to the habitat, but that means I will be focused just a few meters ahead. I need someone to watch farther out so that we don't hit anything. The solar storm seems to have knocked out all of the equipment mounted on the exterior which has the least shielding. At least the lights still work!"

"OK," Daria replied. "I know that you will get us home safe." She reached out and squeezed Tom's hand. "How about I get us each a bottle of water? Then we can get started."

"Sure," Tom said.

The drive back to the habitat was slow and tedious. They had to get there before morning. Depending on whether or not the radiation storm had passed, it would be easy to wind up spending another day in the rover. Jason needed medical treatment and so that was not an option. Daria kept careful watch for anything that they might hit, which would scrape the belly of the rover, or worse cause them to get stuck. The terrain ranged from hard, windblown rock, to gravelly surface, to open desert. All in all it took 6 hours to drive the 60 km (37 miles) back to the habitat.

When they were within about 4 km (2.5 miles) of the habitat Daria started trying to raise someone on the radio. "Rover 1 to base we have a medical emergency," Daria stated matter-of-factly into the microphone. Then she listened. Nothing. She started repeating her message every 3 minutes.

After repeating herself for the fifth time she heard, "Rover 1 state your emergency."

Even with an emergency on board it was good to hear a voice from home. "Base, Jason has a major cut to his leg. It was through the suit in open atmosphere. Suit was emergency patched. Patient has significant blood loss. Current state is sleeping. Skin patch was administered. Emergency pain killer was administered. Need a transport bag and emergency medical team."

"Roger Rover 1. We will be waiting for you. Upon arrival exit through the airlock and enter the habitat. Emergency team will extract patient and take him to the infirmary for diagnosis."

"Roger base. Rover 1 out." Daria ended the transmission. "Did everyone hear that?" Tom said yes and so did Jenny.

The final few thousand meters seemed to take an eternity. They were now on familiar ground and there were no obstacles to their forward progress. Daria just sat and waited as they approached and came to a stop outside habitat Airlock A. Tom, Daria, and Jenny all donned their surface suits and proceeded through the rover's airlock. Outside the emergency team was already waiting for them to leave.

Walking the short distance between airlocks Daria stopped for a moment and looked up at the sky. It was clearly getting lighter. Sunrise would be soon. She wondered about the current radiation count. The best course of action was clearly to get inside the habitat, where it would be safe. Daria walked into the habitat airlock while the emergency team entered the rover.

Once inside the habitat the three explorers removed their surface suits and hung them up. Cleaning surface suits was a specialty in and of itself. It seemed that the biggest problem on Mars was not the lower gravity nor was it the lower pressure, temperature or the radiation. No, the biggest problem was controlling the ever present dust. Even before removing your helmet in the habitat you went through a gentle misting station. It put just enough water on the suit that the dust would not fly off into the air to get caught in the filtration system. Even so, the filtration system came up with plenty of dust, despite the fact that it was all filtered through water.

The three stayed in the vestibule area after completing the entrance procedures. They were waiting for Jason. It didn't take long. About five minutes after they arrived the emergency medical team wheeled Jason past them. He was still in the clear transport bag. Jenny followed them.

Tom turned to Daria, "Why don't we go and get some breakfast. We can check on Jason afterward. Medical will want to go over him anyway. There is no point just standing around."

Daria sighed, "Yeah. You're probably right. I could use some pancakes about now. Comfort food. I could use some sleep as well. But, I don't want to totally throw off my schedule. Let's go."

Tom and Daria stopped at the Surface Operations Desk on their way to breakfast and checked in. It was a formality. There they decided that the post excursion meeting would be after lunch. That gave Tom and Daria time to eat, catch some sleep, and collect their thoughts. Then it was off to the dining hall for breakfast. Afterward they checked on Jason. He was resting comfortably and the prognosis was good. Jenny was with him and they told her about the meeting after lunch. After that short conversation they went to get some sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: HOOCH

**Chapter 6: HOOCH**

Daria watched as the last bucket of regolith was poured on top of the High Oxygen Outland Central Habitat or HOOCH for short. Why the base commander had not been willing to consider another name for these things Daria couldn't say. She had urged her to pick something else. First of all, it was an awkward name. Second, the word "hooch" had several historical meanings. One was a way of referring to alcohol – particularly cheap moonshine. The second was referring to a hut 75 years ago during the Vietnam War. She would have to check her linguistic database. Anyway, neither use was complementary.

Daria had come out here for both of her purposes here on Mars. Her first task was to weld parts of the frame of the hooch during final assembly. She was also here to record and interpret the event. As the colony librarian, historian, and archivist she needed to be here to both record the events and add her commentary. The first stimulated the mild arthritis in her back. The second stimulated her mind, which is what she truly cherished and why she had left the children and grandchildren for this five year adventure.

Tom came up and put his arm around Daria's shoulders. He stated, "I think this is a job well done! We have created this mini-habitat."

"Hooch," Daria corrected.

"Fine, hooch," Tom said. "We have created this hooch so that now we can explore farther away from the colony."

"How did the pressurization test go?" Daria asked.

Tom replied, "The hooch has held pressure for the last 12 hours while we covered it with regolith as a radiation shield. The power and fiber optic links with the colony are working. The electrical system, heat, well, water filtration, waste system, and air generator are all working as well."

Daria said in total deadpan, "Wow. A whole 113 sq m (1250 sq ft) just like home! What more could an explorer want?"

Tom exclaimed, "Think of Scott's expedition to the South Pole back on Earth. They lived in tents!"

Turning toward Tom Daria looked at her husband's still chiseled features, but graying hair. She again remarked in total deadpan, "They all died. I think our goal is not to do that."

Tom smiled. Looking down at Daria it struck him how beautiful his wife was – even behind the visor of a surface suit. Her oval face had added some lines, but they were not bad lines. The auburn hair he so loved had its gray streaks. Time had actually been good to both of them. The thought crossed his mind that even though their adventure on Mars meant living a rather spartan lifestyle for a few years it did not show in their faces.

"Stand over there," Daria said. "I want to do a 360 degree pan to get the context of our big red lump."

Tom moved away from his wife and struck a pose. He waived as she steadily panned her camera around the area. The hooch did look like a lump on the landscape. It was a dirt covered dome that was 12 m (40 ft) wide and high. The only things that distinguished its appearance were an airlock, a couple of tiny windows, and the markers for the buried power and fiber optic cables leading up to it. Walking around the structure Daria captured images of the wastewater recycling system, gas storage, and weather station.

Watching the video as she was taking it Daria noticed something that immediately gave her a rush of adrenaline. She touched her communication switch and went to all present plus the base. "Alert. Alert," Daria stated. "Possible dust storm spotted on the horizon coming this way. I am seeing lighting as well. Base. Why didn't you warn us?"

"Daria this is base. We just saw this storm kick up. However, it is gaining strength quickly. You and the team will need to shelter in place."

"This is Tom. All personnel grab food and sleeping gear out of the rovers and get in the hooch now. That is an order."

Daria added, "Tom, I am guessing we have 10 minutes tops before that storm gets here. It is moving faster and possibly accelerating."

"Roger. Everybody get moving. Get the gear and get in the hooch."

Daria kept her camera rolling. After all it was integrated into her helmet. She went and grabbed a food bag, her sleeping gear and Tom's and then headed for the airlock. Half of the group of 8 was already inside the hooch when Daria stepped into the airlock. She waited as the last 3 came in – including Tom. As they closed the outer door they could see dust just starting to blow past. The airlock cycled and they stepped inside. She took off her surface suit and placed it on one of the dozen suit hangers by the airlock. It was nice to be out of the suit.

Janice, operator of the front end loader and a planetary meteorologist, piped up saying, "Look at the video from the weather station. If I back it up you can see the storm approach. Look at the lightning it there! This looks like one of the strongest electrical storms we have seen here."

Daria thought, 'Yay. At least we have lighting rods.'

Janice went on, "Wow. We went from a clear day to a complete 'red out' in the space of just 3 minutes!"

One of the others asked Janice, "How long do you think this storm will last?"

Janice replied, "Hard to say. It could be hours or it could be days. We will simply have to wait and see. Wind speeds are already up to 250 kilometers per hour" (155 mph).

Tom commented, "It's a good thing that with the thin Martian atmosphere that wind speed doesn't translate into much force acting on the hooch. Total 'red out' is a concern. Well, we have 2 days of food at full ration. Bill and Emily come with me. We need to work out a plan to return to the colony if this thing lasts too long. Everybody else stow gear and supplies, then relax."

Daria climbed the stairs to the sleeping mezzanine. A couple of the crew had already turned in. A collective decision had been made to go on ¾ rations to extend their supplies just in case the storm lasted beyond tomorrow evening. This would give them an extra day without getting really hungry. When she got to a place near the others she rolled out her sleeping bag and Tom's. Lying there she stared at the top of the dome she had just helped build. It was hard to believe that she and Tom had already been here for two years. They were coming up on the half-way point and there was one more major construction project – the magnetic levitation launch system, aka mass driver. It was both an efficient way to launch packages into space and the way they would leave the surface when the time came.

Tom came and slipped into his sleeping bag. He rolled over and kissed Daria. Then he almost immediately fell asleep.

Daria took a few minutes and quietly dictated a short message to the kids and grandchildren. She told the program to add some of the video she had shot. After sending it off she too went to sleep.

After breakfast everyone gathered in the center of the hooch. Tom had a projection hanging in the air. A map was visible with a dot showing their current position and a star for the position of the colony. He looked at the group and stated, "The drivers met last night and we have developed a plan for returning to Aries. As you have all seen, there are a series of stakes set up along the route used by the power line and fiber optic communications line leading here. The purpose is to keep drivers from running over and cutting the lines. These stakes are spaced 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) apart. Some have even argued that they define the first road here on Mars." A series of blue dots appeared showing the position of each of the 100 stakes along the line to the hooch.

"Each stake has a head on it which is reflective to both visible light and radar. The plan is to travel 10 meters (33 ft) from the stakes on the opposite side from the lines. Each pair of stakes form a line. We will locate each stake with a radar 'ping' that will give us our position relative to the stake. At such a short distance the storm will not interfere with the radar. Each stake is in a known position, so we can calculate our position from that. We will simply make a series of straight line runs between stakes." The projection changed to show each of the 100 lines which defined the path they would take in the rovers.

"The dust storm will keep us out of communication with Aries until we are within just a few kilometers. This will be a very slow trip. We estimate our best speed as 10 km per hour (6.2 miles per hour). That means a trip of at least 10 hours. It could be as long as 15. We will wait until tomorrow morning to see if the storm passes. If not, then we will get going at first light."

"One other thing," Tom said. "We will be tethering the vehicles together. That way there will be communication between them and we will be able to monitor each other. We certainly don't want anyone getting lost due to a malfunction! The lead vehicle will handle steering and navigation. Are there any questions?"

Janice stood and asked, "Have you discussed this with leadership and meteorology?"

"Yes," Tom replied. "Leadership is on board with the plan. Meteorology is as well. They are not optimistic that this storm is going to dissipate soon. They are thinking that it will take a week or more to dissipate. It is the strongest they have seen since we started the colony."

With no additional questions Tom stated, "Today I suggest that you catch up on your reports and transmit them, since we have communications here. We will also start packing up at 2:00 pm. Tomorrow morning we should be taking only ourselves, our sleeping gear, the remaining food, and any trash with us. This place has a shower, so I suggest that you take one. Just don't make it too long. It takes a while to generate water for the next person. Janice, please be in charge of scheduling showers. Now everyone get to work!"

….

Daria rolled over in her sleeping bag and looked at Tom. In total deadpan she whispered, "So, this morning you are going to put your surface suit on and try to find the first rover, tether it to the hooch, find the second rover, tether it to the first rover, and then get back inside the hooch."

"That is basically the idea," Tom whispered back. "Then we can load everyone and everything in the rovers.

"Hope the carabiners hold," Daria quietly deadpanned. "After over 30 years of marriage I really don't want to lose you to a dust storm. It would be so unromantic. You know, 'Man turned into Giant Dustbunny' or something like that."

Tom looked at the love of his life and responded, "Tonight on Sick Sad World."

Daria snickered, "I still miss that show."

Tom rolled over and kissed her. Then the two went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day.


	7. Chapter 7: Hitting the Road

**Chapter 7: Hitting the Road**

Daria had insisted that the person to help Tom exit the hooch was going to be her. They stood in the airlock wearing their surface suits. Tom had four ropes attached to his suit. The first was a rope to connect the hooch with Rover 1. The second was a much longer one to connect between the airlocks of the two rovers. The third would connect the airlock of Rover 2 with the hooch.

The fourth would connect Tom to each of the other ropes as he disconnected the umbilical lines between each rover and the hooch. While parked the batteries on each rover had been charged, the oxygen topped up, and the water in each was topped up as well. When the umbilical lines were stowed in the rovers he would then make his way back to the airlock. At least that was the plan.

"Hand me the first carabiner," Daria said.

Tom handed her the D-shaped metal device connected to a fused loop in the rope. With that in her hand Daria hit the cycle button on the airlock. There was a vague 'shwooshing' sound as the pressure and atmosphere equalized with the outside. Tom opened the outer door. The best way to describe the scene was as a wall of red. The storm winds were running about 200 kph (124 mph). Instead of a whiteout like one would see on Earth in the middle of a terrible blizzard, this was a redout of dust. Even with such strong winds, however, there was not the problem of being blown over. The thin atmosphere didn't pack much of a punch. To someone from Earth it felt like a breeze. Still, it whipped up the fine red dust and that filled the atmosphere.

Daria reached out and clipped the carabiner to the mount outside of the airlock. Tom checked it. Then he stepped out. Daria closed the door behind him and waited. She set the display in the airlock to show the readings from his surface suit.

The dust swirled around Tom and he was truly blind. He immediately felt his heart and respiration rates increase. Fear was definitely his top emotion right now and he had to control it. Even if he had not stepped into a storm with zero visibility, he would still be blind because dust immediately attached to his visor through all of the static electricity. It was a scary feeling being all alone in a red world with only the sounds of the functioning of his suit and what he could feel with his hands and feet providing him feedback. He momentarily thought of the stories of people dying just a couple of meters from their doorways in blizzards back in the days of settling the American frontier. Tom pushed that thought away immediately and focused on the tasks at hand.

Forcing himself to move forward perpendicular to the airlock, Tom knew that Rover 1 was parked 5.3 meters (17.5 ft) straight ahead. They had parked the rovers so that they would at least provide some shielding of the hooch's airlock from the dust kicked up by the storm. He placed one foot carefully ahead of the other attempting to move in a straight line. He counted his steps. If he reached 20, then he would know somehow he had missed the rover. He also held his right hand in front of him. He did not want to run smack into the rover. There was always the danger of a fall. His left hand was on the rope as it peeled out.

After what seemed like an eternity – in fact it was only step 15, which took all of two minutes – his right hand felt the side of Rover 1. "I've found Rover 1," Tom said over the radio. He had no idea if anyone could hear him or not. There was clearly radio interference due to the storm, but he did not know how much.

Tom's heart rate dropped a bit when he heard Daria answer, "Roger. Contact with Rover 1." At this close range it was loud and clear.

"Proceeding to Rover 1 airlock," Tom replied. He carefully felt his way along the side of the rover. Now instead of footstep-by-footstep he proceeded hand-by-hand along the smooth metal and glass of the rover. Again, it seemed to take forever, but in reality it took just 3 minutes to reach the end of the rover's side. Then he started to move to the rear airlock and feel around for the mounting point. At the end of 3 more minutes Tom was announcing over the radio, "I have locked the carabiner of line one to the airlock mounting point on Rover 1." He went on, "I have now placed the carabiner of line 2 onto the mounting point as well. I am ready to proceed to Rover 2."

Daria said over the radio, "Did you check that both carabiners are secure?"

"Roger that. I made the check," Tom responded. "I will check again." There was a brief silence. "Yes both are secure. I am moving on."

Walking to Rover 2 would be a bit more of a challenge. It was parked at an angle, but they had to leave a minimum of 3 meters (10 ft.) between the vehicles. Again he carefully put one foot in front of the other. This time, however, he got to 15 steps and had not encountered the rover. He had a very brief moment of panic, but got ahold of himself. Tom pulled the rope that was peeling out taught. He started carefully side stepping to his right. Holding the line and stepping he made an arc. Since he had gone well beyond where the rover should be, he should encounter it using this method. What he encountered was the side of the hooch.

"What is going on out there?" Daria asked over the radio.

"I just took a wrong turn. I must not have gone straight when leaving the back of Rover 1. I will retrace my steps and arc in the other direction. Hold on."

"Holding," Daria replied. She hoped that the other six people with them had completed everything needed to move out. Once this was all done she did not want to wait around.

Tom stepped sideways. He had to be careful to control his movements. He really just wanted to move sideways quickly and get this over with. That was not advisable, however. He did not want to fall out here. So, step-by-step he retraced his arc and then went the other direction. Finally, he felt his hand come into contact with Rover 2. At that point he let the rope start peeling out again. He felt his way along the side of the rover until he reached the end. Then it was just a short stretch to the airlock.

"I have locked the carabiner of line two to the airlock mounting point on Rover 2." He went on, "I have now placed the carabiner of line 3 onto the mounting point as well. I am ready to proceed to back to the airlock."

"Did you check both to make certain they are secure?," Daria asked.

"Yes. Now heading back to the airlock." Tom replied.

This time Tom decided to walk to the side of the hooch and follow it back to the airlock. He still couldn't see anything. Once again he peeled out rope behind him – at least until there was no rope left. Tom felt a slight pull, but the rope came out of his hand. "I have a problem," Tom said over the radio.

Daria could feel a rush of adrenaline at hearing those words. She answered as best she could, "What is the problem?"

"I've lost the rope. The carabiner for the third rope broke or let go and it went through my hand before I noticed it."

"Don't move," Daria ordered. "Are you able to feel around by your feet and tell if the rope is there."

"Just a minute," Tom answered. Tom turned in his current position, knelt and felt around for the rope. He felt nothing. "Nothing," He reported.

"Don't move. I am coming to get you," Daria stated with extreme conviction. "I have a 20 meter line here and I am coming."

"Roger," Tom responded. He felt really stupid. If something had gone wrong with the carabiner that was one thing, but he really should have been able to hold onto the rope.

Daria opened the airlock, fastened the line's carabiner to the mounting point and started along the side of the hooch. Over the radio she said to Tom, "Now what I am going to do is go to the end of this line, straighten it, and then slowly arc outward. When you feel it touch you, then grab it and tell me to stop. We can then both follow the line back to the airlock. Got that?"

"Understood," Tom replied.

Daria really did not like doing this. She just prayed that Tom was indeed somewhere between Rover 2 and the hooch. She kept the line tight and high as it peeled out. This line was nowhere near the diameter of the ropes. It was more like a sturdy twine. She just hoped it was sturdy enough to do the job. Given that it was actually a braided plastic, she was fairly certain it would be fine.

Finally, the line went taught and Daria began to move away from the wall of the hooch. Somewhere in the arc she was sweeping Tom was standing. It seemed like an eternity before she heard Tom over the radio say, "I have the line. Stop." At that point Daria started following the line back. It was only a few meters before she encountered Tom. Together they returned to the airlock.

….

There wasn't that much to load into the rovers. It was mostly sleeping gear and food. Daria stood at the door of the airlock and checked that everyone's carabiner was properly latched onto the rope. Rover 1 personnel, except her, made their way out to the rover, unhooked their carabiner, and stood in the rover's airlock. Tom was on the other end and made certain they got in.

It was pretty much the same for Rover 2, except that Tom made sure their carabiners transferred to the rope that led to Rover 2. There the rover driver made sure they got into the airlock. Finally he unhooked the carabiner holding the rope to his vehicle and went in himself. Tom hauled in the line and stowed it in Rover 1's airlock.

Finally it was Daria's turn. Tom had already loaded her things. She first went through the procedure to return the hooch to "idle." Then she closed the airlock door for the last time and made certain it was latched. Finally, she unhooked the carabiner and followed the rope to Rover 1. Tom was waiting there for her and gave her a little hug when she arrived. He directed her into the airlock as he took the coiled rope from her. He unhooked the carabiner on the rover and stowed the line. At long last he climbed into the airlock with Daria, closed the door, and pressed the button to cycle. When all was clear the two entered the cabin.

The moment he had his helmet off Tom asked, "Is everything stowed?"

The two other crew members answered, "Yes, Tom. Everything is put away."

"Good. Everybody have a seat and I will start the system and get Rover 2 on the line," Tom said as he slipped into the driver's seat. Daria came up and sat next to him. Reaching forward he pressed a large green button and the power systems immediately came to life. The display between him and Daria showed the status of all of the major systems. With a single swipe he could even see the status of the minor systems.

Looking forward through the narrow windows all that was visible was an impenetrable curtain of red. You couldn't see so much as a centimeter in front of the vehicle. That is when Tom pressed another button and the windows seemed to disappear. They were replaced with a full view of everything in front of them. It was like a clear day.

Tom remarked to no one in particular, "I am sure glad that these machines map and record every centimeter we travel in this thing." The system not only recorded visual images, but coordinates and distances as well. Tom could easily see the reflectors tracing the way back to Aries. He set his ground feature radar to comparative, which means that it would compare everything up to 10 meters (33 feet) in front of him to the image database. That would warn him if there were any significant change in the features. Tom then programmed the system to drive the rover home and stay 10 meters (33 feet) from the reflectors on his left.

"Rover 1 to Rover 2. Come in," Tom said.

The answer came right away, "Rover 2 here."

"I have the program laid in and I plan on keeping a speed of 10 kilometers per hour," (6 mph) Tom stated.

"I am programming my vehicle to follow yours. We will stay 6 meters (20 feet) behind you and match speed. That way we don't risk collision if you have to slow down."

Tom responded, "Roger that. Are you ready to go?"

"Affirmative. Let's get going."

"Roger. Out," Tom answered. He engaged the drive and watched his display start moving. Graphics on the view showed when the rover took radar readings from the reflectors and the route to the next measurement position. Tom had a view about 5 km (3 mi) ahead and the reflectors were already mapped on the display. He also had several displays he could choose from: forward, back, sides, and aerial. The aerial view could show him everything from right above the vehicle to a height of 500 meters (1650 feet). For the time being he just kept it on the forward view. Unlike when they drove out and he had to actively drive the rover, now there was little for Tom to do. He just sat and was vigilant about what was ahead and periodically checked the systems. All were nominal. In the unlikely event he had to intervene he was prepared. It was going to be a long 10 hours.

…

Daria spent the long drive assisting Tom as co-pilot, helping the others vacuum dust off of surface suits, or making entries to her personal log or the official log in order to document the trip as part of the history of the colony. Clearly this was the worst dust storm since the colony was created six years ago. If not for the technology and availability of the advanced rovers and the hooch, this trip could have turned deadly. Becoming disoriented lost, and running out of air or food was definitely a danger. Even with all of the support systems the limiting factor was food. They had carried enough for the mission plus a two day emergency supply. They had needed it. In fact, if it wasn't for the limited food supply they probably would have given the storm one or two more days to subside before venturing home. Oh, and the other limit was, of course, the amount that the rovers' waste tanks would hold. At the moment that did not seem to be a problem.

"Rover 2 to Rover 1," came the voice over the driver's speaker.

"Rover 1 here," Tom replied.

"We have a problem over here," the voice stated.

"What is your problem?" Tom said.

"It seems we have a wheel lock-up on our right side. It is the left rear."

Tom paused for a moment, pulled up a display and said, "We are just over an hour from base. Can you raise the wheel and finish on the remaining wheels?"

The voice answered, "Negative. It looks like the height adjustment is gone as well. We might be able to do it manually."

"That is not a simple task. It will take three of us to do that. Any chance you could just drag the when until we reach base?"

"Negative on that," he replied. "Part of the reason I am calling is that I have dragged the wheel for about the last 10 kilometers (6 miles). Unless we can stop the thing from dragging, the computer shows that I will not have enough power to reach base. It further estimates that if you try to tow us you will run out of power about a kilometer (0.6 miles) short of base. If we stop here, then we have up to 8 hours to get the wheel fixed and both have enough power to reach base."

Tom stated in a Daria like deadpan, "Who am I to argue with the computer? Get your surface suits on. I will have Jimmy suit up and come out to help you. Don't forget that you will need lines to follow. I will have Jimmy attach one from our rear to your front. I don't want him using the communications line to find you more than once. Then he can follow the vehicle side to your position. Let me know when you are about to go outside."

"Roger," Rover 2 replied.

Daria turned around in her seat and saw Jimmy already putting on his surface suit. With the break in the trip her mind wandered. She thought of riding in "The Tank" and winding up on the side of the road on the way to Alternapalooza. She smiled as she though about those days with Jane and Trent. Jane was such a great friend. Daria felt sorry for Trent, though. The last 10 years had really been hard on him and the last time she saw him he looked bad. Monique's death from a drug overdose had really shattered him. Even his kids did not seem to be able to pull him out of it.

Mystic Spiral had eventually done decently as a touring cover band. They had even had a song that got on the charts. It had risen to something like number 15 for few weeks. That had given Trent enough of a cash infusion that he could fix up the house in Lawndale and even put together a decent retirement plan. What he didn't know was that Monique had started using drugs again on their last tour. She died in their hotel room while Trent was away setting up for the evening's gig at a high end club. Trent found her on the bathroom floor. He just seemed unable to forgive himself for not being there. He never picked up an instrument again. Over and over he asked himself what signs he had missed. Jane moved back to Lawndale to help him through it, but after two years she returned to New York. She just couldn't let her art business or her husband Jim suffer any more.

Trent's daughter and her boyfriend moved back to Lawndale after Jane left. They had been there ever since. They lived in the house with him and he even had two grandchildren. Mostly he stayed in his room and listened to music. The remains of Mystic Spiral moldered in the basement – untouched. Somewhat ironically, despite playing rock all of their lives, the other members had moved to Nashville and were still doing backups for recordings. Max had even married a then rising country singer 20 years younger than himself. He was her drummer on tour and for her recordings.

Thinking again about Alternapalooza, Daria chuckled at the fact that it was unlikely anyone here would vomit on her feet. She remembered cleaning off her boots after that incident. Bump on the head, bee sting on her arm, and puke on her boots. Plus they never made it to the festival. The only redeeming part of the trip was her first chance to really get to know Trent. Jane had gone off with Jesse to get help. Not many people had cell phones back in those days, especially teenagers. Now she sat on another planet as the guys tried to fix a tire. Things just never truly change.

Daria could hear over the radio:

"Now lift."

"No, put your back into it. Look, we have to get this thing up higher."

"I still can't see a thing out here."

"No, you have to do it by feel."

"Ow! That was my hand!"

"Turn the thing already!"

The chatter went on for some time. About a half hour later she heard, "Rover 1 we have the wheel secured."

"Roger," Tom responded. "Get back inside and let me know when you are ready to roll again."

After another half hour they were moving again.

Daria just sat there for the remainder of the drive. The light was fading when they finally arrived in front of the vehicle airlock at Aries. She watched on the display as it showed the outer door opening. She remembered welding the hinges on that door! Then the two vehicles were able to move in side-by-side. The outer door closed and the air jets started. Controlling the Martian dust was a major task for the colony. First there were the air jets (which actually blew Martian atmosphere) to blow dust off of the vehicles. That was then suctioned though centrifugal filters to remove the dust. Next came the water jets. This made the airlock into a giant truck wash. The point was to get any remaining dust washed off of the vehicles. The water also went to a centrifugal filter and then was further filtered to remove any last tiny bits of dust. The final cleaning stage was to once again use atmosphere and air jets to dry and get any last bit of dust off. Once that was all done the atmosphere in the airlock was replaced by breathable air and the pressures equalized. Then the inner door opened and both vehicles were manually driven into their parking/maintenance spots.

As Daria stepped out of the vehicle she noticed that the base commander was standing nearby. Everyone went over to her and she overheard, "Glad to see everyone is back safe and sound. We were worried there for a little bit!"

Daria heard one of the crew respond, "The hooch really kept us safe. The main reason we had to get back was that we would have run out of food. Otherwise, we could have stayed out there for another week."

Daria thought, 'Only if you really want to see how ripe your comrades get after a week. There may have been a shower in the hooch, but we didn't have much more than a little bit of hand soap with us. That would have been gone in a day. One warm spell in there and we would have died in each other's stench.'

Daria dutifully shook hands with Commander Ramirez, accepted her good wishes and thanks for all of the hard work building the hooch, and then headed into the habitat. The one thing Daria was really looking for was a nice long shower, washing her hair and then bed.


	8. Chapter 8: Happy New Year!

**Chapter 8: Happy New Year!**

Tom started sizing up his wife with his eyes. He stated, "You look amazing in that dress, Daria." He walked over put his arms around her and kissed her neck.

She retorted in typical deadpan, "I'll bet you say that to all the old women around here wearing the same dress."

"None of them look as good in it as you do. You are hot tonight!"

Sighing, Daria turned to Tom, kissed him, and said, "I'm 62 years old. I've had kids, menopause, and my hair is streaked with gray. I am hardly hot. But at least I have learned to take a compliment wherever I can get one!"

Tom stepped back and said, "Seriously, Daria. You always have been a beautiful woman and I would put you up against any woman on this planet."

"All 50 of us," Daria deadpanned. "And the youngest one is a kid of only 55."

"Yes. I don't know how you have managed to keep your figure, but it is the same one that turned me on in high school."

Reaching up and patting Tom's cheek Daria responded, "I'm so glad you don't see well. You realize that certain things just plain sag – even in Martian gravity. Not to mention wrinkles and fat deposits in certain places I have no control over. It doesn't matter how much exercise I get or what my diet is like. It simply is."

"I think you are great and there is no one I would rather be with at this party. The men will all be envious."

Daria took a couple steps up to Tom and grabbed the lapel of his tuxedo. Pulling him close to her she whispered, "Well, since you are being so nice, maybe after this party we can see what this old body still has left in it. You look pretty darn good yourself and I am happy to be with you. When we get back I think I can still muster some pleasure for both of us. We can start the new year off right!"

Tom pulled her closer and they kissed. He felt the length of Daria's body and all of her curves along his. If it wasn't for the need to get to the party he would be reaching for the zipper on her dress. But, they needed to get up to the now decorated cafeteria. Their lips parted, Daria touched up her lipstick and wiped the lipstick off of Tom's face. Then they left their quarters hand in hand.

…

Tom and Daria walked into the cafeteria. They were really surprised at what they saw. Neither of them had been on either the planning or decorating committees. The chairs were wrapped. There were table cloths on all of the tables. Place cards graced each place at the tables. There were streamers hanging from the ceiling and the light level was definitely "mood" lighting. Recorded jazz was playing in the background.

Looking around the room, Daria saw that almost all of the men were wearing black tuxedos with white shirts and Martian red bow ties. The only exceptions were the few military people, who were wearing the dress uniforms of their services – primarily U.S. Army dress blues. The women were mostly wearing one of three designs of formal gowns. It was a mix of Martian red, blue, and yellow gowns. The blue was the blue of the Martian sunset and yellow was for the sun. The two military women wore their dress Army uniforms.

Tom and Daria found their seats and started chatting with the other two couples as at the table they arrived. Soon the room was filled and Commander Mia Ramirez stepped up onto the small stage with a microphone, which was set up at the far end of the room.

"Fellow Martians," Commander Ramirez began. "By the Grace of God and human technology humanity arrived for permanent settlement on this planet 3 Martian years ago today. That is almost 6 Earth years. We are fortunate and thankful that all of the first colonists are with us this evening. Please stand so that we can recognize you."

A group of 12 people stood up. The 6 couples were scattered around the room. There was thunderous applause.

The commander continued, "When we welcome the newest members of our community in just a few weeks we will have increased our number 10 fold over those first colonists. In the short time we have been here we have gone from living in prefab habitat modules to our permanent home, which we built with our own hands. I put forward this is the equivalent of going from living in tents to living in a palace."

Once again there was thunderous applause. Daria had to admit that where they lived now was so much better than the original modules they now used as workshops. Those were buried under a meter and a half (59 inches) of Martian regolith to block the ever present radiation, In comparison to the new habitat – the 12 story tall titanium pressure cylinder located in an old lava tube – the original habitats were cramped and uncomfortable. Now it was much more like living in an all-suite hotel. In fact, their quarters were somewhat larger than her first efficiency apartment in New York. Sure the building materials had to be sent from Earth, but they would last centuries on Mars.

"It is not just the living quarters where we have had great progress. We can now feed ourselves through our own agriculture. We can print almost anything from rover parts to these clothes we are all wearing and even the decorations. When we are done with any of them we can recycle them to make new things we need. We can even produce plastics and fuel for rockets! All of this in just a few short years! Give yourselves a round of applause for your hard work."

Once again the applause was loud.

"We Martians are a free people. We say what we think. We respect each other and we move our colony forward. We freely elect our council. To be truly free we must become completely self-sufficient. We are already at least 80% of the way there. I am putting forward to you that our next goal together needs to be to become completely self-sufficient – needing no resupply from Earth – by the 6th Martian New Year. That is almost 6 Earth years away and many of us will no longer be on Mars. However, self-sufficiency ensures our colony's future and that no one back on Earth can call an end to this 'experiment.' We owe it to the future of humanity in the universe."

This time people not only applauded, but more than half of the stood up. Daria was beginning to think she had missed a message somewhere.

In a loud and official sounding voice the commander stated, "Now let me read a resolution by the Martian Council: 'Hear ye, hear ye. Be it proclaimed that from now and forever more on this day shall all of Mars celebrate a new year of the Martian calendar. Make ye merry for ye have earned it through a year of toil and sacrifice! This day shall not be a day of toil but one of celebration! This is duly ordered by the People of Mars in their Council Assembled on Mars date Sol 2005 and Earth date 1 May 2044.'"

Once again applause rang out.

Finally, the commander made her closing statement, "Fellow Martians, we have a great evening ahead. We will be starting with cocktails and mingling. The bar is on the opposite side of the room from the kitchen. If you take your place card you will notice that the back is made of 8 perforated tickets. These are your drink tickets! There is also a list of cocktails available on each table. Naturally, the kick for each one comes from Martian Moonshine! If you like, you can trade 4 tickets for a small flask to take with you."

Daria had to laugh. Martian Moonshine was the answer to the eternal human question of: How can we make booze? Everything from fruit rinds to potato skins was collected and fermented in a big vat. It was all then distilled to a high alcohol content. It might be thought of as Martian Vodka, but that would be insulting to vodka. If you didn't drink this stuff it could be used to remove paint. It was truly 'white lightning.' It wasn't aged. It was just raw liquor. But, when there was no other choice, then it was good enough.

The commander went on, "A buffet dinner will be served after the cocktail hour. The stewards will dismiss by table. During cocktails and dinner we will enjoy light jazz. Dancing will start after dinner. We will have both waltzes and modern dancing. Enjoy!" With that she turned off the microphone and stepped down. One of the stewards stood up and announced, "The bar is open!"

Daria and Tom headed for the bar. There were three bartenders working to serve the hundred people in the room. The couple patiently waited their turn. When it was their turn, Daria ordered a Martian Sunrise, which was something that had three layers: on the bottom was a layer of orange juice representing the sun, on top of that a red layer representing the daytime sky, and finally a blue layer representing the color of sunrise. Daria was a bit amazed that the layers stayed separated. She even stirred the drink and watched the layers separate once again. Tom ordered a Martian Cosmo. Clearly the agricultural staff had been working hard to create juices as well as moonshine. With drinks in hand the two returned to the area around their table.

One of the people at their table was Julie. Daria always thought of her as Julie the geologist, because that was her profession. She had a doctorate in geology from Michigan and had worked for decades for the U.S. Geological Survey. She was definitely an expert on rocks and the deposition of material over time. Even on Mars, however, where great questions of the history of the planet were being studied and debated, she was not a great conversationalist.

Julie walked up to Daria and said, "Hey Daria."

"Hi Julie," Daria responded.

"How's the library? Read any good books lately?"

"Well, let's face it. The library only has a few dozen actual books. We read everything on 'pages' or computers. I did get an upload from Earth today. There were probably 300 books in the upload."

"Still, our flexible 'pages' are so much better than holding a bunch of paper or those heavy tablets we used to carry around that had glass screens. Any geology journals or new texts?" Julie asked.

"I would have to look. I won't add anything to the master publication database until day after tomorrow," Daria deadpanned. She thought to herself, 'Where did Tom go?' She sipped her drink and started looking around for Tom. It was a good thing that Julie was totally oblivious to social cues. That way Daria would not seem rude!

Julie practically bubbled, "Oh it was so cool. I had just finished polishing a sample I had sectioned off of a rock we picked up about 10 kilometers from here. I just about had it ready to put under the microscope. At least with my trained eye it looked like it would have a really interesting microstructure. The rock it came from had evidence of water erosion. It probably was a river rock, but the really interesting thing is that it was a river rock that had been thrown up as ejecta from a meteor crater."

Tom was three tables away toward the bar. He was talking with Rod and Peter, two of the other equipment operators. Both were engineers. Rod had recently designed a new generation of 3D printers for the colony. Peter was an electrical engineer. He had just designed upgrades for the control systems in the rovers, which were in the process of being printed by the fabrication department, which made everything from integrated circuits to structural beams for the colony.

Peter asked, "Tom, so what was it like driving back in that massive dust storm. You are the first one to drive in one that intense!"

"I wish I could really turn that trip back here into a good story," Tom replied. "But truly it was just excruciatingly slow. We averaged about 12 kilometers per hour (just over 7 miles per hour). The key to success was the synthesized view projected on the windshield plus the autopilot. The rover was able to navigate itself using the reflectors and stored MPS and terrain data it had gathered up to the point of stopping at the hooch. I guess I could embellish the story with something about the potential of starvation. Maybe add thoughts of cannibalism and drinking someone's blood or bodily fluids when the water ran out."

Rod laughed, "Let's face it guys. Most of the stuff we do here is deathly dull. The excitement comes because we are doing these deathly dull things on Mars. If we are lucky, there is some moment of abject terror once in a while because something didn't work as expected. You go back to the original moon landing and they were just out collecting rocks and soil."

Lifting his hand and pointing his index finger at the sky Peter exclaimed, "But it was on the moon!"

Tom and Rod chuckled. Rod responded, "And that is what made it an adventure. They got there with less computing power than I have in my watch. Almost miraculously they got back. Of course, there were thousands of people working back on Earth to make sure they got back in one piece and still breathing."

Tom chuckled, "Well, at least we had far better accommodations and safety systems to get us here. Of course that is where Daria and I had our greatest adventure so far. It was when that tiny meteor went through the Mars Transfer Vehicle. That is a much better story than driving in a dust storm. There was mayhem and death!"

As he started to relate the story of mayhem and death, Tom felt a tug on his arm. He paused, looked over, and saw Daria standing there. After over 30 years of marriage he knew the look on her face. He excused himself from the other men and walked off with her toward their table.

Daria scolded Tom, "You abandoned me to the stories of Julie the geologist. I thought I was going to die of boredom. I think I now know more about a slice of some tiny pebble vomited out of some crater than I ever cared to know."

"Sorry," Tom responded. He knew this was no time to point out that she could have just talked to someone else.

"Please stay by me. We may live with all of these people, but that doesn't mean that I want to spend time talking to every one of them. If you want we can go back to Peter and Rod. At least they can tell a story."

Tom looked back toward Peter and Rod. They were just sitting down at their table with their wives. It looked like they would be next to go to the buffet tables. Tom leaned over to Daria and whispered, "We can sit down. I will sit between you and Julie. I know that I could stand to brush up on my geology."

Taking Tom's arm Daria responded, "That sounds like a plan. Certainly driving all over the place you could stand to know more about geology." The two returned to their table and sat down. Tom greeted Julie and asked about her sample.

Daria sat down and arranged her plates and flatware in front of her. It was really amazing to her how good the food had become here on Mars. The commander had been right. Martian agriculture was feeding them now. On top of that the kitchen stewards were highly skilled – in fact the head chef had a Michelin star and a sense of adventure. She was actually excited as they got up and headed to the buffet.

When they had returned to the table Daria found herself looking down at her salad bowl. She had a salad that included four types of lettuce, some red cabbage, and carrots. Tomatoes were abundant here on Mars, so the salad had those as well. At least whoever had planned which tomatoes to bring had the foresight to include several red, yellow, and even deep purple varieties. There were shredded cucumber, daikon, and radicchio in there as well. The dressing was a balsamic vinegar and oil.

Daria's dinner plate wasn't lacking for variety either. Oven roasted purple potatoes were there along with broad Italian green beans sautéed al dente. The beef they grew was essentially New York strip steak. It just came from a vat not a cow. Tonight it was served as a 250 gram (5 oz.) steak grilled medium rare.

Leaning over slightly Daria asked Tom to pass the bread and margarine. The basket contained whole grain white and a hearty rye bread. The margarine was good and Daria was thankful they had it, since dairy milk was something that they had not yet been able to synthesize. Any milk on Mars was most likely based on soy. Still, it was not bad at all. Daria took a slice of rye and a knife full of the margarine and put both on her bread plate.

Next to Daria sat Ursula Kelting. Urusla was one of the first 12 Martians. Ursula turned to Daria and started to strike up a conversation. "So, Daria, how is your dinner?"

Daria cleared her mouth and then replied, "It is really good. I can really see not only the improvement in quality, but variety as well just since Tom and I arrived."

"No kidding! Your freight load had so many seeds in it. It was a real turning point. When we arrived it was all classic 'space food.' You sure get tired of freeze dried food and paste quickly. I remember when the first potatoes were harvested! They were the first things we grew ourselves. We grew them in the regolith and our own waste. The little agriculture dome smelled bad, but those potatoes tasted so good!"

'Mmm,' Daria thought to herself. There is nothing like talking about growing potatoes in human waste to really compliment your appetite for dinner. Sure they still used human and now vegetable waste as well to make fertilizer, but at least it was all composted, treated for pathogens, and not odiferous! One of the things you had to note about Martians is that they didn't hold back when it came to describing how to survive in what was a mostly closed system.

Daria deadpanned, "Survival must have been challenging in those early years. How did you cope?"

Ursula was clearly excited about giving her wisdom to Daria, "It was a psychological nightmare. No wonder we were so rigorously screened for psychological issues. We were in cramped quarters. Goodness, you were practically sleeping in your neighbor's armpit! " Lowering her voice she leaned closer and said, "Not to mention it was a real challenge to have sex with your husband. On more than a few occasions people snuck off to the agriculture dome just to do it! I remember the time another couple walked in when we were behind the corn. We thought for sure we would be seen. We just wanted some privacy. I'll tell you that Dieter and I learned real fast to be dressed, quiet, and quick!"

Daria stared a moment remembering what Ursula had just said about the agriculture dome. She finished chewing her mouth full of green beans and swallowed before responding in total deadpan, "That must have been so hard for you!"

"Dieter was pretty strong back then, too!" Ursula quipped. "I think the danger of being caught in the act was part of the fun. Of course, it was not really forbidden or anything. It's just that most people don't want to have someone standing there watching them copulate while waiting for the space so they can do it too! At least Dieter was strong enough to hold me when we did it standing up. Truth be told he still is! So, did you and Tom find a favorite place to have sex in the old habitat? Have you found any good spots in this place?"

'OK,' Daria thought. We are clearly not back in Lawndale at the country club making polite dinner conversation. This is going a little too far even for Martians. Clearly Daria was faced with a dilemma. Should she just say something to quickly end this conversation or should she take Alice through Wonderland? She set her fork down and turned to look at Ursula.

"You know," Daria started in a very hushed voice. This forced Ursula to lean closer to her to hear what was being said. "Even though I am more of a moaner than a screamer, I have developed the talent for being quiet. We even managed to do it on the MTV without anyone being the wiser. If we wanted a little more spice there was a space in Section 27 behind the air processors that we found to be very private. The noise of the machinery covered any sound we made."

"That sounds kind of exciting," Ursula said. Daria could tell that her breathing rate had increased.

Daria went on, "The old habitat was a challenge, but with more room we mostly used what passed for our quarters, until we made a discovery."

Ursula's breathing was much deeper now and her attention to Daria's every word was very intense. "What discovery did you make?" she asked.

Daria decided a half-smile – an evil half-smile – was what was needed here. So she gave the half-smile to Ursula. "As a heavy equipment operator Tom has access to all of the rovers. We would sneak out there in the middle of the night and climb into one of the rovers. The driver's seat is electrically controlled and can be varied in height and about 15 other positions. It will even lie flat. That seat also turns 360 degrees. Oh, and one of the things I brought along was this little cheerleader skirt."

Ursula narrowed her eyes and whispered, "I can't imagine you were a cheerleader! You don't seem to have the personality."

"Correct on both counts," Daria replied. "I didn't bring that skirt along for high school memories. Other than meeting Tom and my close friend Jane I would just as soon forget high school. Anyway, I would change into my little skirt, make myself comfortable in the driver's seat, and then put it at just the right height. Tom would get on his knees and, well, think about fun on a lazy susan! When we were done we would just go back into the habitat."

Ursula's expression of pleasure, closed eyes, and heavy breathing were certainly noticeable. Gradually her breathing returned to normal. While this happened she didn't say anything. Daria was even able to turn away and get a few bites of her food. Ursula turned away from Daria, interrupted Dieter's conversation, and then started whispering something in his ear.

Daria was trying to remember the conversation. Did she tell Ursula that there is always a camera running in the rovers? She must have told her that. Anyway, even if it wasn't true it made a good story and kept Ursula occupied so that Daria could enjoy the rest of her dinner. Truth be told, she and Tom were such private people anyway the very idea of being such exhibitionists was well beyond their comfort zone. They would never do anything like that. Their love life might seem deathly boring to outsiders, but it fit the two of them perfectly.

Dinner was soon finished and the stewards collected the dishes and utensils. Then dessert was served. The stewards actually brought those to the table. It was a three layer chocolate cake with cherries embedded in the frosting between the layers. Chocolate, along with coffee and coconut were items in very short supply on Mars. This was the first time cacao had been harvested. They were expecting the first coffee in about four to six months. Coconuts were still about a year or so away. Special varieties of each had been developed on Earth and sent to Mars. However, they were still very resource intensive to grow here. Daria relished every bite of her cake. There was no telling when the next chocolate cake would come.

Dinner gave way to dancing. Tom took Daria out onto the floor and they waltzed. When they returned to the table Tom looked around and commented to Daria, "What do you think happened to Dieter and Ursula? I don't see them anywhere around."

Leaning over to Tom's ear Daria whispered, "I have no idea, but I will happily tell you about my dinner conversation with Ursula back in our quarters, dear. By the way, you might want to check the rover security tapes tomorrow."

Tom knew from long experience that when Daria called him 'dear' it was a very good idea to just drop the topic and do as she told him.

At midnight it was time for the toast. Glasses of bubbly drink were passed around to everyone. It certainly wasn't champagne. It was Martian Moonshine mixed with white grape juice and a dash of raspberry juice to make it red.

A toast, a kiss, and more dancing. Two hours later after a wonderful party Daria and Tom headed back to their quarters. They still weren't quite ready to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9: Smoke!

**Chapter 9: Smoke**

Daria emerged from inside the airlock. She pulled off her helmet and took a breath of the fresh air in the building. Sure it was created, recirculated, and constantly purified, but it was still better than breathing bottled air in the surface suit. At least now it also passed through an environment that included soil and plants, so there was a certain smell of life to it.

It had been a long day and she had even had to do some of the welding on the launch rail herself! There were a couple of welds that were just not suitable for what she had come to think of as her robot army. Each one was really good at its job, but even with advanced artificial intelligence there were limits. It was good to know that the old human hand and eye were still good for something! At least she had not become totally obsolete. As she finished putting the surface suit in the locker, Kara came up to her. Kara was the other welder and a mechanical engineer in the colony.

"Daria," Kara said excitedly, "You need to come quick to the auditorium! Julie told me that the World Walker has found something exciting. Nobody is saying anything other than this is significant."

Daria looked at Kara with her tired, bloodshot eyes and deadpanned, "Kara, this is Julie the geologist we are talking about. Rocks excite her! Goodness knows that a new type of mineral might drive her to an orgasm!"

Kara stared at Daria for just a moment. The corners of her mouth twitched. Her nose crinkled, and then she started to laugh. She laughed so hard she had to sit on one of the benches across from the lockers. It took her a minute, but she composed herself.

"Daria. The very picture of Julie having an orgasm is now one I can't get out of my head! I could probably make a comment about the shapes of rocks, but I will refrain. You probably have the driest sense of humor of anyone I know."

"Who said I was making a joke?" Daria quipped.

Julie laughed again. Then said, "Seriously, the command staff is asking everyone available to come to the theater. They are going to go over the day's video and point out what was found."

"Alright. I will come with you. But first let me send Tom a quick message. I need to let him know I am back inside."

"Sure," Kara said.

Daria activated her wristband. Dictated a short message to Tom and sent it. Then she turned back to Kara. "Shall we see what the World Walker hath wrot?"

Kara laughed again and the two women walked to the theater.

At the door of the theater a man was handing out goggles. They were lightweight and strapped on. Daria thought that virtual reality had come a long way in 35 years. The World Walker rover had a full stereo visual reality imaging set on a mast. This included sound pickups so that you could hear as well as see the world just as if your were there yourself. The only thing missing was the smell! Of course inside a surface suit there was not much to smell other than the bottle in the bottled air.

The World Walker was a mission to have a robot drive the entire circumference of Mars. It was designed not to need supply lines and it wouldn't die from exposure to radiation. While all of these problems could be solved for humans, nevertheless for a first look it was still best to send a robot rover. Also, you didn't have to worry about parts of a robot getting into a fight or not speaking with each other.

Daria and Kara walked toward the center of the room. Commander Ramirez was just coming to the microphone.

"OK everyone," the commander said matter-of-factly. "We have some very special video to show this evening. Please put your VR goggles on now."

Daria put her goggles on and it was just like she had suddenly stepped out onto the surface. The only difference was that she was not wearing a suit and could breathe! Still, it was fascinating to have the full 360 degree view and hear the light Martian wind passing around the camera mast. The landscape she saw was nothing particularly remarkable.

After giving everyone a moment to adjust to the view in their goggles the commander continued, "Now today's mission was scheduled to be a traverse through the hills you see in front of you. The World Walker was supposed to travel 12 km (7.4 miles). I am going to speed things up from the usual 2 kmh (1.2 mph) to make it look like we are going 36 kmh (22.3 mph). Keep an eye on the distance traveled indicator in the upper right hand corner of your view and then look front when we get to the 4.5 hour mark.

Daria stood and watched as the landscape moved past at a rate somewhat slower than you would drive through a residential neighborhood back on Earth. Still, it was a great deal faster than the rover's actual speed. At 15 minutes into the show Daria turned her attention straight ahead.

"That looks like smoke!" someone in the audience shouted.

"You're right!" said another.

Things came into focus for Daria. She could now clearly see what looked like smoke rising in the distance behind a hill. The only problem, of course, is that this is Mars. Nothing burns here out in the open. There is not sufficient oxygen in the atmosphere – not to mention how thin the atmosphere is to start with. Besides, it is mostly carbon dioxide. There simply should not be smoke or fire here!

Commander Ramirez said to the crowd in a more measured tone, "OK. Now I am going to switch views. I am launching the drone to go over and take a look at where the smoke is coming from. I am speeding this up as well."

The view in Daria's goggles changed and she felt as if she was flying as the drone launched off of the back of the World Walker. It too provided a 360 degree 3-dimensional view. The Martian terrain sped by quickly as the drone flew toward its target. If there were birds on Mars, then this is what they would see!

As the objective came into view, again one of the audience members blurted out, "Those are flames coming out! How is it that we are getting flames on Mars?"

The drone approached the object and there were several conclusions that could immediately be drawn. First, it was clearly not a natural object. Second, it was quite black. Third, the fire was most likely due to a ruptured oxygen tank, a ruptured fuel tank, and either the heat of atmospheric entry or hitting the ground caused a spark, which in turn ignited everything. The craft had no visible markings.

Daria watched with fascination as the drone made its way around the craft showing it from a variety of angles. The debris field was fairly large, which means either this was a large craft or it hit at an angle which really maximized the debris field. Still, there was a sizable central area. The big question was: Where did this thing come from?

After about a half-hour the drone left the wreckage site and started to fly back to the World Walker. At that point the view in Daria's goggles was turned off and she pulled them off of her face. She and everyone else looked at Commander Ramirez.

"So," Commander Ramirez began. Her tone was now very serious. "We have a situation here. We have a downed and burning craft of some type, which never showed up on our approach radar. We didn't track it on approach, entry, or even register the crash. What is it? Was there a crew? If so, are there survivors out there? We need answers to these questions."

"What I have ordered is that the drone return to the World Walker and speed charge. Then it will fly back to the wreckage and fly around it. After that it will take up a parked position about 300 meters away. The World Walker will start toward the site and continue even during the night. We have good maps of the area, so we should be able to make at least a kilometer (0.6 miles) per hour even after dark. That should get it to the site somewhat before dawn."

"Now my concern is that there might be a crew with survivors. We have no clue how long they might last. So, speed is of the essence. We have 2 prototype speed copters that we have been testing. Each carries 2 people. The challenge is that the crash site is about 500 km (310 miles) from here. Of course the copters' range is only just over 200 km. Oh, and there is the little problem of the mountain range between here and there."

Daria thought that the problems were certainly considerable. The speed copters were basically drones that carried two passengers each. They were developing these machines to help with their exploration mission. Since they were planting hooches at 100 km (62 miles) distances from each other, the copters would allow more rapid transfer of people. Hooches could be provisioned, so that would mean that longer and farther missions could be undertaken without as much use of the rovers. Still provisioning was supposed to be done using the rovers not the copters. In any event, the track that the World Walker was taking to drive the circumference of Mars was not one where they had been building hooches. The commander had some serious problems to overcome if they were going to get to the wreckage in any kind of timely manner.

Commander Ramirez stated, "What we are going to do is the following: First, I am sending 4 rovers out carrying extra fuel for the copters and themselves. These will be positioned at 200 and 400 km from Aries. Two of the rovers are being refitted to handle casualties and medical personnel will be onboard. The medical rovers will be stationed at 200 and 400 km from the crash site, respectively. The remaining rovers will carry people and equipment for rescue and analysis to the crash site. By timing the departure of the copters correctly, we can reach the crash site with copters in less than 9 hours assuming everything goes according to plan. It is the best we can do. "

"Second, One medical person will fly on a copter from the 400 km position to perform any needed triage. Once on-site we will then evacuate survivors by copter as fast as we can. Pilots will first take them to the 400 km position and if there are more survivors than can be handled there, then we will refuel the copters and send them on to the 200 km position. We will use the old habitat as quarantine and as an emergency room. A lesson we are learning here is that we are not well prepared for a long-distance rescue!"

"Once any evacuations are complete, I want as much of that craft as we can salvage. I am ordering the two rovers driving to the crash site to recover what they can. I am very disturbed that we were unable to detect this craft. Maybe we have a glitch or a failure. I am even more concerned about the possibility that this craft was intentionally sent and shielded from our detection. Why would someone on Earth send a craft to Mars and not want us to detect it? That points to a possible violation of the Mars exploration treaty."

"We need to get that thing back here and have a look at it so that we can determine its origin. In the meantime, I am going to keep Earth as much in the dark as possible." Commander Ramirez straightened up and adjusted her jacket. In what can best be called her 'command voice,' she told the assembled crowd, "As Commander of Aries I am ordering you not to divulge this situation to anyone on Earth. That especially includes family and friends. We need to keep it under wraps for a while until we figure this out. If you check your texts you will see that this order has been formally sent to you. Dismissed."

Daria turned in her VR goggles as she left the theater. Leaving Kara behind Daria began searching for Tom.

…..

Daria and Tom were just finishing their dinners when Commander Ramirez walked up and sat down at their table. She was not carrying food.

Almost breathless Commander Ramirez said, "I really want you two involved with this recovery. Daria, I need you to go over the video as it comes in. I especially want you to watch for any sign of writing on this craft. Take a look at the external pictures. Maybe once we get internals we will see something. Good archiving and indexing is also critical here. If I have to lodge a complaint I need to be able to access the materials efficiently." Turning to Tom she went on without skipping a beat, "Tom, I want you to lead the rover mission to recover what we can."

Tom replied immediately, "Sure. I can do that."

Looking at the commander Daria said with real empathy in her voice, "This is really disturbing you. Why? What are you concerned about?"

Commander Ramirez looked at Daria and at last her eyes seemed to relax for just a moment. Then in a low, tired, and even a worried voice she explained, "Think of the possibilities here. The best scenario is that we have a hidden flaw or failure somewhere in our sensors. We can probably find or fix that. All of the others feed off of the question – Why was this designed to avoid our sensors? If it is unmanned, then what were the makers trying to find out? If it was manned, then what was its mission here and in both cases why was this information not shared with either us or Mission Control on Earth? The worst case scenario is that this was or is an attempt to invade and take over the colony. At this point I can't see why anyone would want our colony, but people have started wars for dumber things in the past. Ironically, I still hope that this planet named after the Roman god of war will be a planet of peace."

Daria nodded as she listened. Then in a very measured voice she added, "And of course what you are not saying is the one additional possibility. That is that this craft is alien and didn't have its origin on Earth."

Commander Ramirez placed her hands flat on the table, looked at Daria and said very slowly, "That, Daria, is my greatest nightmare. If that is the case, then who or what is out there and what does it want? At least humans have much in common no matter their individual culture." With that the commander got up, looked at Daria and Tom and said, "Well, back to work." Then she walked off.

Daria sat and looked at her plate.

"Finish your dinner my love," Tom said as he reached over and held Daria's hand. "I have a feeling these next few days are going to be rough and there will be little sleep or time to eat. Not only do I plan to have dessert tonight, but I am going to get a tea with triple caffeine to go after that. You might want to do the same."

"Yeah," She replied. "I understand everything she said. Now we need to see what we can do."


	10. Chapter 10: Wreckage

**Chapter 10: Wreckage**

Daria sat in the library watching the feeds from the two rescuers sent out to what she though of as 'the mysterious craft from outer space.' They were documenting the crash site, as well as then moving pieces to see what was in the wreckage. So far there was no evidence of a human or alien crew. That was just fine with her.

Tom had departed at first light with the four rover group. It had taken much of the night for maintenance to refit one rover as essentially a flatbed truck with a crane. They needed something to haul the wreckage. They estimated it would take the convoy of rovers about 10-12 hours to reach the crash site. On top of all of that 3 of them had to tow trailers that carried a fuel cell and fuel to recharge the others during stops along the way. The fuel would also be used to directly refuel the copters. It was a good thing that they had exacting maps down to the size of each pebble along the way from the World Walker. That way the rovers could average 50 kph (31 mph) while driving on the route.

While having the wrecked spacecraft was something exciting, watching the feeds from the rescue team was actually quite boring. Until they could start moving large pieces everything was just staying where it was and they were talking. Having found no crew in the debris field, they were now trying to look under things for a way to access what was under the main part of the craft. So far, no luck and no visible writing.

"I think I have something here," one of the men said. "Bring the high powered light!"

Daria could see the camera image from the other man as he went and retrieved the light from his copter.

The two positioned the light to shine on the area. "That may be a hatch there, but is is so distorted from the heat of entering the atmosphere that I can't precisely tell."

"Bang on it a few times and see if anyone answers," the other rescuer replied.

They both took tools and started banging on the hull. They kept at it for about a minute and then placed microphones to try and pick up a response. After a few minutes with no response they removed the microphones. They repeated the process several times.

Daria pulled up feeds from the microphones. She muted the sound, but looked at the graph to see if she spotted any transient signals. After the fifth attempt she called the rescue team.

Daria called, "Library to Rescue 1. Do you copy?"

"Roger Library. What's up Daria? This is Ed."

"Ed, on attempts number 4 and 5 I am seeing a feint transient signal pop up about 30 seconds after you stop banging on that thing. Seems a little long for an echo. It might just be something you started vibrating. But, it is definitely a signal."

"Roger that Daria." Turning to his partner Ed ordered, "Go get me the drill and atmosphere tester. We need to find out if there is any air behind this."

Moments later Ed was drilling through the hull of the craft. The drill created a seal as it moved through the material so that there would not be decompression if indeed there was an atmosphere with substantial pressure on the other side. Soon the drill was through and Ed was watching the display as the unit tested whatever was back there.

"Hmm," he said. "It looks like what is back there is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide with some other trace gases. The carbon dioxide is right on the line of being lethal to human life. Total pressure is awfully low as well."

"This is Daria," Daria stated. "Could it be that Martian atmosphere has been getting in somehow? Maybe the ship is no longer sealed?"

"That is always a possibility," Ed responded. "I think there is enough to make it worthwhile to set up the soft airlock and cut away this hatch. Then we can get inside and see what is in there. How far out is the rover convoy?"

"They left the 400 km station about an hour ago. They have had some slow going, so I am guessing they are still about two hours or so away from you."

"Roger," Ed responded and then the two men went back to work. Daria continued to monitor on her screens.

…...

It took about 30 minutes to setup and test the soft airlock. Once Ed was satisfied he turned and said, "OK Karl, now see if you can cut that hatch open. If it is conductive, then we can use the arc welder to cut through. If not, then we will have to try an acetylene torch." The material turned out to be metal and conductive. An hour later later there was a hole cut in the side of the craft.

"Karl, where is that spider thing!"

Karl walked over to his copter and fished out a box about the size of a a case of beer. He brought it over and opened it. Inside in tight packing was a device about one-third the size of the outside packaging.

"Here it is, Ed," Karl responded. "I'll take it out and we can get it through that hole to take a look around inside." Reaching back into the box he pulled out a controller. "Here, plug this into your helmet display and I'll plug it into mine. We can both see what is happening with the spider. You can control it, though."

Ed and Karl plugged in and Karl turned the device on. He then stuck it on the side of the craft next to the hole.

Their helmet displays showed the message 'Mars Exploration Support System - Ready. Voice control active. Realtime video feed active.'

Ed started out, "MESS go to your left. Enter the hole and scan interior. If you lose contact return to origin and extend antenna line." The artificial intelligence built into the deice understood his instructions and the spider disappeared into the hole. A window opened in each of their helmets and started displaying the interior of the craft. The spider had a super bright light and effectively illuminated the interior.

Daria watched as the two men discussed what they were seeing. She was sitting in the library wearing VR glasses. She could see everything the spiders were transmitting. Even though they were in tight spaces the bright lights they used made everything visible. She was also able to switch to an infrared view if she wanted it. Most of what she was seeing was either structure of the craft or wiring. A couple of things in her view looked like pipes or tubing.

"Shine the light left 20 degrees," Daria told the spider. The light shifted immediately and illuminated a dark corner of the crashed craft.

Daria remarked, "We have our first data. This thing is clearly terrestrial in origin. Those are standard electronic parts and circuit board markings." She grabbed the image and fed it into her computer with instructions to identify the components. In less than a second she had her answer. "The computer tells me that these are components produced in Asia. Everyone uses the same components, so that does not yet tell us the country of origin for the craft. However, it clearly eliminates this thing being an alien craft of some sort. Kind of disappointing."

The commander came on and said, "Good work, Daria. That answers one question. Let's keep digging and see what more we can get. I really want to know what we are looking at before I contact Houston about this."

Over the next hour the spiders crawled over various components. Still there was no direct evidence of who had built this craft. After considerable time the spiders reached what might be the payload compartment or maybe even a crew area. It took a while to find a place where the compartment had been torn open by the impact. The spiders went in and Daria steeled herself in case there were deceased and possibly mutilated astronauts in the compartment.

The lights from the spiders shined brightly around the compartment. There was no evidence of humans in the space. Most of the space was clearly taken up by various types of machinery, wiring, tubing, and piping. As they looked around, certain shapes seemed to emerge. And then there was a symbol.

Daria grabbed the frame with the symbol and copied it to her library computer. It didn't take long for the software to tell her what she had found. It was in fact 2 Chinese characters. The translation was: soldier.

As the spiders continued to crawl through the space more shapes were revealed. There were what appeared to be arms and torsos. While nothing was exactly a head in the human sense, there were disk shaped areas atop the torsos. Farther up there were things which appeared to be containers. They were also marked with characters. Daria grabbed the image and once again fed it into her library computer. The translation returned: ammunition. Now Daria was concerned.

"Commander," Daria called.

"Yes Daria," the commander replied.

For once in her life Daria had to really control her emotions and her voice. She did her best to respond in total deadpan. "I think we have a situation here. I have grabbed images of the Chinese characters spotted so far. They translate as 'soldier' and 'ammunition.' I do not think this bodes well for the purpose of this craft."

The commander said, "OK. Are there any other images you can use to help identify what is going on?"

Daria responded, "I think so. But, I have to extract them and get the computer to put together a composite image. From that hopefully we can identify what we have here."

"Do it and get back to me when you know more."

"Yes commander," Daria said. Then she started work on putting together the images.

Daria, the Commander, Tom and his group, and Ed and Karl were all on the video conference call together. The commander had also pulled in the other military people in the colony.

The Commander started, "Daria, please start and tell us what we are looking at."

Daria cleared her throat and started the series of slides she was discussing. "What we have here is a Mark 16 Groundfighter autonomous robotic soldier. On Earth they were capable of operating in all weather conditions down to -40 C (-40 F) and up to 50 C (122 F). They can operate underwater to a depth of 20 m (66 ft). They could be parachuted from high altitude into an area as well. Their purpose was to secure streets and buildings so that human forces could move in. They can walk, run, climb, and are good jumpers. Any resistance fire was snuffed out quickly and mercilessly. Being robots, they had no problem blowing up a building with people inside just to take it."

Several of the military people chimed in with ideas about how to completely destroy the craft by detonating the onboard ammunition. One said, "We could try to set that off. It would probably take out the entire craft."

Tom was listening to the back and forth and then chimed in with, "If we do any of those things you are suggesting, then we hope we have successfully destroyed the craft and we will have destroyed the ammunition as well. However, I am deeply concerned that this might not be a one-time incident. What if more of these things show up? If someone has the idea that they are going to take this colony by force, then would they leave the entire job to just a few of these robots? I put forward the idea that we need to think about how we may have to defend ourselves against attack. This may not be over."

There were comments of agreement all around.

Daria popped up, "What about welding torches used for cutting? We could send in welding drones with cutting torches and cut the legs off of the robots. Then they are at least immobile. We can also cut off arms so that they cannot shoot. We could harvest the parts and really see what we have. We might even be able to salvage their weaponry and make it usable by humans. Then we have a means of defense if more of these things show up. We can also try to see if we can interfere with their electronics."

"I like that idea," The Commander responded. "How long will it take to get the equipment we need out there?"

"Approximately 12 hours," One of the military people responded. He was a logistics person who worked with Tom on managing colony resources. "We can get the shops started on the alterations now. It shouldn't take more than 5 or 6 hours. We can then put them on drones and get them out there."

The Commander stated, "I think we have the start of a plan. Get that going and get the cutting torch carrying drones out there ASAP. Cut off the robots legs first and then the arms. Transport the pieces back here to the shops. Meanwhile, I will work on a defense plan and we can revise that once we have these things out of the craft and know the threat better. I am going to brief Houston on the situation as it is now and we will see what happens on their end. I need to do that before Earth is fully in conjunction behind the sun. No matter what they say, we are on our own and we will take whatever action is necessary. I will brief the whole colony at dinner this evening."

Tom stood on the small ridge which overlooked the crash site. He could see the two copters sitting there that had brought Ed and Karl along with search and rescue gear. Nearby were the two drones that had brought in two welding robots. Ed and Karl were standing away from both the copters and the crashed ship. Tom's rover was parked well away from both. In fact, he positioned it so that if a rapid escape were needed he could get the whole crew behind the ridge very quickly.

The smallness of the crashed ship was rather surprising to Tom. While space was always at a premium on any type of spacecraft, it was still dwarfed by its own debris field. The thing looked black, burnt, and most of all inert. Still, looks could be deceiving.

Tom walked down and went over to Ed and Karl. He asked, "So what is going on now?" The three members from his team and two from the other rovers were standing well away behind the vehicles. Still, Tom was on the community broadcast channel and they could hear him.

"Well, we are working with your wife to cut up these robots. Our working theory is that they are intended to be armed and used against us. We have one more arm to cut off and we are done. Then we can cut open the spacecraft, unload the robot pieces, and unload the ammunition as well."

"OK," Tom said. "Once you are done it looks like we have plenty of room on the flatbed for this thing."

Karl shouted, "Ed, I am starting to get power readings on this thing! I think the robots are trying to power up."

"Let me look at that display," Ed replied. "Yeah, the spiders have detected an electrical spike. There is definitely power flowing to some of the robot parts. Let's see how close we are to being done cutting." Ed switched images to the last welding robot doing the cutting. "Just finished."

Tom turned toward the rovers and said over the radio, "One of you get inside and check for any attempts to broadcast. We really don't want whoever sent this thing getting any messages from it. Jam any signal emanating from it."

"Yes sir," One of the men replied. He went over and cycled through the airlock on the second rover.

Karl commented, "I don't think they will be able to get off much of a broadcast. The antenna is upside down in the dirt over there. It doesn't look like there are any wires attached to it."

Tom jumped in saying, "Still, we need to make sure. Jamming is one of the few mechanisms we can use defensively right now."

Ed commented, "Well, with Earth just about to go behind the sun I am betting that these were sent to accomplish something autonomously."

Karl retorted, "I don't like the implications of anything autonomous coming here and running amok. It escapes me why someone would want to mount an invasion of an otherwise peaceful international colony. Everyone is welcome to send at least one pair of astronauts."

Looking at the two men Tom simply said, "An invasion is something we need to stop. What we do here is for all countries and not just one. If someone walks in and takes over, then not only will we suffer personally under their yoke but all mankind will suffer. If someone takes over, then all the resources will belong to them and they will dictate how those resources are used – including personnel, i.e., us."

Karl said quietly, "Didn't Edgar Rice Burroughs write stories about human slaves on Mars?"

Ed popped up with, "I thought he wrote Tarzan."

Tom replied to Karl, "That is correct! He wrote Tarzan, too, Ed. The point is we don't want our lives to turn into an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel."

Still listening to the conversation Daria made a note to look up some material from Edgar Rice Burroughs series on Mars. The Commander might need it for a speech or message to Earth. She would also have to refresh Tom about the story lines of Burroughs series.

The men's attention was suddenly drawn toward the mysterious craft. They heard an explosion and felt the concussion from it. They turned and looked just as the top of the spacecraft was landing about a hundred meters from the spaceship. Two robot arms came crawling out.

"Get the welding robots over there and cut those hands off!" Tom yelled into his microphone. A moment later two of the spidery welding robots came running out where the top of the ship had been. They chased down the two arms and applied their cutting torches to the metal. In a few moments there was no more movement.

Tom gave orders to the men who had come with him in the rover, "Get this junk onto the flatbed and let's get it back to the lab. We need to find out what we are dealing with here. The thing that concerns me most is that there may be more of these ships that landed successfully and have viable robots aboard! When you get that done do the same with the ammunition."

Tom wasn't done. "Everybody who came out here to do the initial survey head back to the colony. We will do the cleanup and be back soon. Meantime those of you who flew in be sure to pay attention and do reconnaissance on your way back. I have a bad feeling these things were not alone. We need to find any others and deal with them. If you see some, then report back at Aries. Does everybody understand?" Over his helmet speakers Tom heard everyone respond with "yes."


	11. Chapter 11: The Unknown

**Chapter 11: The Unknown**

Commander Ramirez looked over the map shown on the glass top video table. The map was a highly detailed image of everything within 100 km (62 miles). She was circling important points. Around her were gathered the military members in the colony – all retired. Of the dozen people in the room half had been in their countries' special forces for at least part of their careers. The others had been in other high risk jobs, such as parachuting, test piloting, and explosive ordinance disposal. Commander Mia Ramirez herself was a retired U.S. Army colonel.

She said, "So, if I was going to march a force into our area to assault the colony, then I would have to bring them through one of these two gaps. The problem here is that we do not know if these particular robots are ones which we can expect to use standard infantry tactics. For all we know they could come right over the hills and not bother with the more level passes."

Cuthbert "Bert" Walker, a retired captain in the British Special Air Service (SAS), commented, "The first analysis of the parts found in the crash indicate that we are looking at some variant of the Chinese Model 26 Mark 16 Groundfighter. Those beasties were devils in a fight, but their joint motors didn't have enough torque to climb anything. Unless they have replaced those with more capable motors, I am certain that they will have to use the passes. I guess we will know more when we get the parts from crash back here."

"The problem is the longer we wait the less time we have to prepare," Ramirez stated.

Anton Vaslov, a retired major in the Russian Spetsnaz, spoke up. "We need to get aerial reconnaissance ASAP. We don't know if there are other ships which landed successfully, where they landed, or how many landed. Furthermore, we do not know the distance from our colony to these ships. Knowing these things will give us time to prepare a 'welcome' for them."

"Commander," said the man with the short beard standing just slightly away from the group huddled around the glass table. "I think I have some parameters which will speed our search."

"Go ahead, Erwin," Commander Ramirez responded. "I'm all ears."

General Erwin Rommel, retired from the German Army, was a skilled tactician. He was also known for taking risks. On top of that he had a doctorate in history from the University of Heidelberg and his papers on military battles were widely published in prestigious history journals. His father, also a career German officer, had named him after the famed German general from the second world war. To the best of his knowledge they were not related in any way. "Let's look at this another way. Consider first that the timing of the crash is no coincidence. One of two things is at play here. Either there are multiple landings timed for roughly the same moment and are further time coordinated to attack us and that one just happened to crash, or that unit was meant to crash as a diversion to draw our attention away from the other landings and deployment of forces."

Ramirez stood up and looked at him, "Go on," she said.

He continued, "It has been about 3 days since the crash. It is notable that we have not yet been attacked. If there are other craft and they wanted to attack right away, then we would have been attacked. So I have to conclude that the landings are far enough away from our colony that it takes a measured amount of time for the forces to get here. This would have been done to further avoid detection."

"So far so good," Ramirez remarked.

"In 36 hours from now we will enter a window of about three days when communication with Earth is completely impossible due to the conjunction. Even the relay satellites will be incommunicado. This would be the perfect time for an assault. The enemy can count on a quick victory, since we have no weapons. By the time communications with Earth are again possible the colony would be completely in the hands of the enemy and no one could do anything about it. With the battle over I dare say our sponsors would simply hand us over to whomever wants this place. How is it you say in America? Oh yes, we would be 'under new management.' Probably management we would not like. Fortunately for us it appears that not everything has gone as planned for our enemy."

"So how does this affect our strategy?" Ramirez asked.

Rommel replied, "Here is what I think. The enemy robots will reveal themselves in 36 hours. Until then they will be moving from their landing sites to the nearest spot invisible to the colony. They will then have a day or so to subdue us and at the end of the conjunction they will report back to their masters. We need to determine places where they could hide out of sight and send aerial drones to look for them. They may already be in place. If they are not, then we send the drones to look at approaches for each of those sites out to maybe 500 km (310 miles) – since that is where the one known craft went down. We must assume it crashed near its intended location."

Vaslov looked at Rommel and said, "Nice theory. Why not just march in and take over? Why wait?"

Rommel looked back and said slowly, "Because there won't be any consequences. If they started a fight, but had not yet taken over before the conjunction, then there would be diplomatic consequences on Earth. There might even be a way of blocking them. Once they have us, then the situation is fundamentally changed and they can do as they want. There will be screaming and fits, but the outcome will have already been decided."

"Very well," Ramirez said. "Erwin, I want some unmanned drones in the air within the hour. We need to find these machines. Second, Vaslov and Walker, I want someone to design some weapons we can use right away. We may get ammo from the downed ship, but we will need something to use it with and even then it may not be the right device. See what you can figure out and get fabrication on it. Let's get to it. We don't have much time."


	12. Chapter 12: The Message

**Chapter 12: The Message**

Commander Ramirez walked into the library and sat down in a chair across from Daria. In an already tired voice she said, "Daria, as much as I hate to say it you are about to become the first Martian war reporter."

Daria deadpanned, "Daria Sloane reporting on war from the planet named after the Roman god of war in the colony named after the same god in Greek. Gotcha. I figured as the 'storyteller' for the colony I would wind up documenting this conflict, whatever it becomes."

"What I really need is about 3 to 5 minutes of information I can send to Houston. There are still a few hours to send it via relay satellites before the Earth becomes completely inaccessible to communications. Before coming over here I sent you some additional information we developed in Command Council."

Daria paused a moment, "I received that. I will incorporate it into the message packet I am already putting together. When do you need it?"

Ramirez answered, "I plan to send it 30 minutes before the communications blackout. That way there is not enough time for Earth to do anything to tip off our enemy before the blackout. The enemy would simply respond to the charge by saying 'Oh, they are misunderstanding our intent. We are just using these robots for peaceful exploration, which is our right. We will look very negatively on any interference by your colonists with our exploration efforts.' We will need to be ready after the blackout to show the battle and the enemy's destroyed robots.

Elaborating on her point, "I am also concerned if I send it too soon and they confront the malefactor that a message will be sent to the robots to just destroy everything. Maybe that is paranoid, but sometimes being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't all out to get you. I am expecting the battle to commence at the start of the blackout or shortly thereafter. We will then have a few hours to maybe a day to defeat the robots before they can receive any new instructions. As it is we do not know if anyone is aware one of their ships crashed. We have to assume that they do. However, that does not mean they know that they have lost the element of surprise."

Daria responded, "This is definitely not what I signed up for!"

Commander Ramirez laughed wearily, "None of us did, Daria. We wanted to be explorers and expand the horizons of humanity. Now we are dealing with the basest of human endeavors – war. Thank God that we have a dozen highly experienced retired military people to mount a defense."

"I will second that," Daria said in total deadpan.

Ramirez mused, "When Erwin came I don't think he ever in his wildest dreams thought he would be planning another battle. He came to plan long distance exploration missions on the surface."

Daria asked, "Are all of our retired military people veterans of the robot war?"

"Yes," Gonzales replied. "Of the dozen, 8 actually faced them in battle. Believe me, they have no great desire to do that again. The one thing the military ingrains in you is that there are simply times that you do what you have to do whether you like it or not."

"Understood," Daria responded. "I will have the package ready for you at least an hour before transmission. I can do it earlier if you want to go through some review cycles."

"I will probably only have time to review it once. Do your best, Daria. I will look at it. If it is good enough we will send it without editing. I am trusting you on this." With that Ramirez got up and left the room.

Daria started working on the storyboard and script for the 3-5 minute message. She hadn't really done something like this since she worked for Sick Sad World. She thought, 'Maybe now it should be Sick Sad Solar System.' Daria felt angry, sad, and scared all at the same time. She certainly had confidence in the people here. They were all quite capable. Still, there was a battle looming and she certainly did not want people she knew and lived with to die. Down deep she knew if they lost this battle, then she herself might not be alive much longer. That made her sad and scared. It would deprive her children of their mother and her grandchildren of their grandmother. Sure there were big risks in exploring another planet. Sure there were risks traveling to and from Mars. Still, everything was designed for safety and people worked to ensure your success. This was the opposite. As for death, she spent a few minutes contemplating things Father O'Neil had said to her. It was comforting, but now she had to concentrate on the task at hand.

The last 17 hours had been a whirlwind of intense work, utter boredom, lunch, dinner, and some restless sleep. Daria and Tom had made sure to spend a little bit of time together. One thing Daria had learned over these past hours was that passion can be spectacularly intense if there is little time and a real possibility that one or both of you may be dead shortly. At least they had made each other aware that they were both quite alive.

Tom was going to be doing logistical support for the positions. That meant he would be exposed, though he himself would not be firing weapons except as a last stand. Daria certainly hoped it would never come to that. These robots were tough, but they had good military people who had defeated them before.

Daria sat back in her chair and one last time reviewed the message that Commander Ramirez would send to Houston. It was 3 minutes of intense reporting, but Daria had managed to pull it together:

"Attention Houston. This is a Code Red transmission. It is classified TOP SECRET. [5 second pause] This is Commander Mia Ramirez of the Aries Colony on Mars. We are being invaded. As Colony Commander I am declaring an exclusionary zone of 100 km around the colony. Anything entering the exclusionary zone without my expressed permission will be destroyed upon detection and without warning."

At this point Daria changed from Commander Ramirez to her own voice. She narrated the message in her very own total deadpan. She started with video of the smoke plume. "At 0835 five sols ago we detected a smoke plume from what was found to be a crashed spacecraft. The craft was clearly designed to evade detection as it approached the planet." Here she showed video of the outer hull and its anti-detection coating. Then she switched to an interior still picture. "As you can see, inside the craft were three Chinese Model 26 Groundfighter robots. This next image shows how the robots were carrying their weapons. Furthermore, inside the spacecraft was a large container of ammunition as you can see here. These robots are now no more than scrap."

Certainly the people in Houston were smart enough to know that this was not a good situation. Daria was instructed to avoid providing any information which would indicate their true ability to defend themselves or any information on their battle plans. Houston needed to know about the situation and how it developed not how it would be resolved. Also, there was always the possibility – maybe a strong possibility – that there was a spy feeding information to the enemy.

Now Daria switched back to Commander Ramirez, "Additional craft have landed successfully. As you can see from this video there are currently Groundfighter robots moving on the surface. They are heading toward Aries. We can only conclude that the intent of whomever sent them is hostile and we will deal with the situation accordingly."

Ramirez stated, "I am deeply disappointed in this blatant violation of the Mars Exploration Treaty of 2036. When this current situation is resolved I intend to provide what evidence I can of the origins of this unprovoked attack. I expect that measures will be taken back on Earth."

"Assuming all goes well, you will receive a communication from us on the other side. This is Commander Mia Ramirez, Aries Colony on Mars. This concludes this Code Red communication which is classified TOP SECRET."

Daria made certain that the words "TOP SECRET" appeared at the top and bottom of the video throughout. Then she sent it on to Commander Ramirez for her review. Ramirez responded a short while later that it was exactly what she wanted and that the message would be sent at the designated time.


	13. Chapter 13: Tension

**Chapter 13: Tension**

The tension in the colony was palpable. Everyone was on edge. Commander Ramirez had formed two teams. One would engage the approaching enemy at the opening to their valley. The other would protect the nuclear reactor. The colony's drones had worked to obtain images for 12 hours. Those images showed a single column of 9 Groundfighter robots headed their way. Every inch within a radius of 50 km (31 miles) had been scoured. These were the only robots found. On top of that there had been a further investigation out to 500 km (310 miles) and nothing appeared to be in that space other than the 9 confirmed robots.

"What do your think of our chances for survival," Jenny asked Daria.

Daria was rather irritated at the question. Yes, Jenny was a geologist and not a military tactician. However, their survival was the Commander's responsibility not hers. "I give us at least a 70% chance of defeating the enemy."

"So, a 30% chance of dying?" Jenny emphasized the last word.

"Well, look at it this way. We aren't going to be the 'slave girls of Mars.' We are both well past our peak on looks. At least we still have husbands who will sleep with us." Daria paused a moment for emphasis, "Of course it also means we sleep with them."

The sound Jenny made was maybe best characterized as a nervous giggle. Daria could tell that this situation was really getting to her. Still, it didn't seem right to Daria to give her false reassurance.

13.1

Daria and Tom had both fallen asleep in the chairs in their quarters. They hoped to have some time together before the start of hostilities, but they were also both dead tired. Thus, sleep had come more quickly than conversation. Love making never had a chance.

Daria's phone started ringing and it took her a moment to awaken enough to both realize that it was ringing, much less to answer it. "Daria here," she said.

"Daria, it is Erwin Rommel." The German accent clearly gave his identity away to her long before he even said his name. "We need to talk. I think I have a way of weaponizing your welding robots."

"Really?" was all Daria could reply.

"Yes, but I will need you to program the strategy into them and then act as controller when they attack the enemy."

Wearily Daria stated, "There isn't much time Erwin. We can meet and do what you want done, but I am concerned that we will run out of time. Also, this is going to cost you a large Martian tea with triple caffeine. This will be an intense effort if we are to program and deploy anything else for this battle."

"I know, Daria. But I wouldn't ask this if I didn't think it could give us an extra margin for victory."

"I will be there in just a few minutes. Do you want to meet in the Library?"

"That is as good a place as any. See you in 15 minutes."

"Will do. Don't forget my tea! Bye." Daria looked over at Tom. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He did not awake. Then she headed out the door.

13.2

It was several hours later when Daria and Erwin stood in the garage and watched as the welding robots were loaded onto the rovers.

"I hope this idea works, Erwin. If it does, then you should go down in history along with your namesake."

Chuckling, he replied, "Thank you. But, I am merely a tactician. You and the engineers were the ones who will make this truly work. That is if it works. If it doesn't then it was just another dumb idea at best."

Daria looked at Erwin and said in her total deadpan, "You came up with this idea and you should get the credit you deserve. If it doesn't work, then I do not think we will have lost much, except possibly a good portion of our welding robots. But, we are also now at the point we can fabricate them ourselves. Now I need to go to my station."

Erwin watched as Daria turned and headed for the airlock back into the habitat. As she walked away he shouted, "Good hunting!"

13.3

Daria took up her station in the Library and looked at her screen. She could see the positions of the main two units as they moved out into the Martian desert. What made her nervous was that Tom was part of the logistical support for the fighters. Commander Ramirez had chosen her former military people to actually engage the robots. Several had done this before on Earth. Tom was one of the rides to the fight and he was carrying backup materials, her robots, and ammunition for them as well. The engagement group – Alpha Team – had two rovers transporting them and carrying arms and ammunition. The team guarding the reactor – Beta Team - had one rover supporting them. At the end of the fight the rovers would bring the teams back to the colony. Hopefully they would be coming to celebrate a victory.

Daria's head was still spinning from all of the information she had to process over the past 36 hours. Being the librarian, she had to get information on robot design, weapons used for and against the Groundfighter robots. And she had to sort and store information coming in from drones as well as the analyses of the robots in the laboratory, which was just part of the old habitat. On top of all of this she had spent so much time programming the welding robots with Erwin.

Of course, programming robots was only one aspect of preparing for this fight. Daria thought that one of the creepily fascinating jobs was to work with the munition designers to come up with something which would work. They had no guns or gunpowder on Mars. These munitions had to use materials at hand. She thought, 'What did these guys major in when they were in college? No university offers a degree in munitions design!'

In the end, two strategies were used to design the munitions. Solid rocket fuel was chosen as propellant, since it carries its own oxidizer. High explosive was also chosen, because it detonates and is not just a rapid burn. Detonation is the transformation from one chemical to another rapidly and with tremendous power. The original colonists had brought high explosive to use if they needed to blast rock. Several small rockets with solid fuel were in the colony's inventory to investigate upper level atmospheric conditions or even send very small payloads into orbit. The primary munition the designers created was a 12.5 mm (1/2 inch) shell fired from a gun. It had a tungsten tip for penetration and a steel body. It was fused to explode just after penetration.

Now their fighters would use this to bring down the robots. The tactic would be to first take out the main sensors of the machine. Then there would be a shot to the body to take out the computing power. As that point the electronics and sensing would be all shredded. If all went well, the units could be destroyed in 2 or maybe 3 shots each. The welding robots would first be used to try and cripple the Groundfighters and then to cut them up. That assumed everything went as planned, which it never does.

As a backup plan each of the platoon leaders had insisted on designing and fabricating their own mines.


	14. Chapter 14: God of War

**Chapter 14: God of War**

While Daria and Erwin were working on programming the welding robots, out in the old habitat space Anton checked his hard suit to make certain there were no air leaks. There were 12 of these suits. The original colonists had brought the suits with them. The original mission planning committee was concerned that if they had to blast rock using high explosive, protection was needed from potential shrapnel. While the suit would not protect him against the direct hit of a round from the Groundfighters, nevertheless it was good to at least have protection against ricochets or shrapnel. In any event it was much more robust than a regular surface suit. He just wished there were enough for everyone in his squad to have one.

Next Anton began checking the weapons for his team. Fabrication had done a good job printing some reasonable firearms. They had what amounted to semi-automatic sniper rifles to fire the 12.5 mm (50 caliber) explosive rounds that were also printed and then assembled. This would be a battle based on mobility not sheer firepower or rate of fire. They had to fire and quickly relocate. Otherwise, the Groundfighters might be able to determine their positions from the trajectories of the incoming rounds. Then they could send in a shell to take out the colonists. That was not in Anton's plan and certainly not Erwin's.

Anton's squad would defend the nuclear reactor. He had two other defenders with combat experience under him and three additional members in the squad. Plus he had a logistics and mobility team with one rover and four people. The only thing that concerned him was the limited ammunition available. He had just 30 rounds for use by his team. He also had 12 anti-groundfighter mines, which could be set off by contact or by remote control. These armaments should be enough as long as this was just a defensive assignment.

At the same time in another room Bert was doing the same thing as Anton. He would be leading the main defense against the known Groundfighters. To do the job he had a platoon of 10 – most with combat experience, 60 rounds of ammunition and 30 anti-groundfighter mines. He knew that Anton shared his concern about going into combat with so little ammunition. Bert had first-hand experience with these combat robots from the war. They were bad news. He had lost many good troops assaulting positions they held. When attacking they never flinched. There was no emotion. They were soulless machines.

Tom waited by his rover for Bert and his team. Tom had an additional three people for the logistics crew. Of those three, two were experienced in first-aid. One of those had experience with war casualties. Never in his life had he imagined that he would be driving what now amounted to a combat vehicle into a war zone. He and his team had spent the last few days stripping unnecessary equipment from the rover. That way if it was hit fewer instruments would be damaged. It also increased the rovers range and made space for the 15 people and their equipment, which it would be carrying. He also had 9 of Daria's welding robots strapped to the roof. The other team had three.

Bert and his platoon approached Tom's rover wearing their hard suits and carrying their helmets and equipment. The logistics team helped the platoon stow their gear. When everyone was in their seats Tom called Commander Ramirez. "Rover 1 ready to deploy," he reported.

The commander responded, "Roger Rover 1." After what was a long 5 minute wait the message came, "Rover 1 and Rover 2 you are clear to deploy. Godspeed and good hunting!"

The garage area depressurized and the doors opened allowing both rovers to drive out into the Martian sunshine. Tom immediately started toward the approved contact point, which would be about an hour's drive. The second rover in the squad followed. They were expecting the robots in about three hours. The passage was long and mostly silent. Everyone wore their helmets and were plugged into the air system. The rover was kept depressurized in case it was hit and punctured. Being depressurized also speeded the time it took to get out of the vehicle. Tom could tell that the veterans in the platoon had music going inside of their helmets. They were getting 'into the zone.'

Once the rovers reached the predetermined point Tom checked the latest intelligence information. He turned and said to the people on his vehicle, "The Groundfighters are on schedule. There has been no change in their speed or direction. There is no indication at this time that they are aware of our presence. Earth will move into communications blackout in 22 minutes."

"Alright," Bert replied. As he got up, so did the rest of his platoon. Turning to them they came to attention. Facing them Bert said, "This Mars. This is your homeworld. Be prepared to die defending it. You now have that opportunity. I expect you to kill these things and use their own limbs to beat them into scrap. Success!"

"Hoorah," the platoon responded. Then they dismounted from the vehicle. Tom's crew passed their gear to them. They took their weapons, ammunition, mines, and packs and headed out.

Tom got his crew working to first unload the welding robots. As soon as they hit the ground they ran off on their own. He hoped that Daria knew what she were doing. Once that was done the crew concentrated on deploying the field hospital. First and foremost they laid out varying sizes of suit patches. They tested the rapid fill outlets on the rover, which could rapidly supply air to depleted tanks or a breached suit. Tom drilled them twice on setup and emergency takedown. He deployed the solar array to recharge some of the battery power before it would be needed. He wondered what was happening with the squad, but the decision had been made to keep radio silence unless it was absolutely necessary. The Groundfighters had 'ears.'

Bert looked over the mound that concealed him and two of his men. He had split his platoon into three squads of three plus one member for purely reconnaissance. The gap that the robots would be coming through was not narrow enough that they would come through single file. Since they probably did not know about the ambush they would come through at least three abreast. For that matter, the gap was wide enough that all nine could walk through at the same time.

Each of Bert's men had a rifle. One in each squad was a trained sniper. Back at the colony they had trained the others – all veterans – on sniping. The key was to take out the "bubble" on top of the robot first. This held their sensor pickups and communications gear. It was not armored and therefore made a good target. Even with that gone, however, they could still communicate with each other. Even destroying the sensor pickups the squads still had to move fast after taking their shots. The sensor bubbles would have had time to give the central computers the ability to determine the trajectories of the incoming rounds and the robot would return fire. Groundfighters were deadly accurate when they fired.

That was why the next target was the body. It housed the central computer array. There were also some backup sensors. Groundfighters could determine the direction of fire from a hit on the armor piercing rounds the platoon carried were designed to explode inside the body and shred everything. That should end the robots as a threat.

Bert had carefully planned where his troops would start the ambush and each subsequent hiding place. The point was to keep them under cover and hopefully stop the robots before they reached the platoon's positions. The reconnaissance soldier was the key to ensuring that they were stopped. She was out placing mines in strategic locations. The mines they had made were essentially claymore mines, which would explode and send shrapnel tearing through the armor of the robots' bodies. They would be set off by touch or by remote control. She had also programmed a drone to fly over the battlefield and broadcast video of the encounter. Until such time as the robots chose to shoot it down it would give them a valuable tool for the engagement. Bert was counting on the robots being focused on the engagement with his troops rather than the high flying drone. Once in the air Sheila would only receive video. She would not send instructions to the drone so that the the robots could not detect her transmission and determine her position. The one advantage to fighting Groundfighters was that they were not strategic thinkers. They were designed to handle the most immediate threat and move on.

Once all of their bubbles were destroyed the humans would have a substantial advantage.

Bert felt or heard someone tap his suit. He turned and the sniper in this squad pointed toward the gap. Bert checked the display on the camouflage periscope they had set up. Showtime. The Groundfighters were coming through the gap. They were walking in three ranks of three. Bert set up an aerial tactical display in his helmet. The robots would be within range in about 30 seconds.

The first thing that Bert saw were flashes as the welding robots sprang from their hiding places. Like ravenous spiders one welding robot ran to each Groundfighter. In the first 5 seconds they ran up the Groundfighters' right leg and welded themselves to the back of the torso.

Back in the Library, Daria was feverishly making sure that each robot locked onto its target. On her display each welding robot turned from red to green when it was securely welded onto its Groundfighter's back – a position which the target could not reach to get it off.

The next step in the program was to deploy the proboscis around the edge of the thigh. The attackers used a system much like a human ball-in-socket hip. There was thinner armor in the external seam allowing better movement. Erwin and Daria were taking advantage of that. The proboscis deployed and immediately started burning a 4 mm hole in the seam using the laser welding feature. This took 8 seconds.

At 15 seconds after contact the welding robot inserted an arc welding wire into the internal moving hip and started welding. The goal was to get the hip to seize and thereby slow the forward motion of the Groundfighter. It didn't really matter whether the hip seized from being welded or from too much foreign material being introduced into it. The objective was to at least degrade the joint or end its usefulness.

–-

With 2 seconds left Bert switched his helmet radio to transmit.

"All units fire," he commanded.

The troops knew what to do from their training. In unison nine 12.5 mm guns fired their rounds. The troops immediately ran to their next positions. A second before running Bert switched off his transmitter. As everyone ran to the next position they made certain that the portions of their run in the open did not point to the next position. This increased the time needed to take up the position, but it would also help misdirect the robots as to where they were running. Bert wouldn't know the effectiveness of the first volley until he was repositioned. He did know that the robots had returned fire by the sound of rock kicked up by their impacting rounds hitting his hard suit.

Arriving at the second position he checked the periscope display. It looked like 5 of the 9 robots had their bubbles destroyed. That meant that they were all running off of the information provided by the other four robots. At least 2 with bubbles appeared to be limping. Three ranks of three robots – less two – now were running toward the platoons' previous positions at about three times the speed of a running human. Bert used hand signals to order his squad to concentrate their fire on the remaining robots with the bubbles. In less than 10 seconds the remaining bubbles were gone. The robots were still a great danger, but less so than a few seconds before. The men again moved. This time to the third set of positions.

Bert switched to aerial view. The robots were now headed for the squads' second positions and he could see his men moving. There were 4 now slowing and exhibiting a distinct limp. The robots had spread out and adopted a tactic of firing about every 10 meters in an arc in order to kill anything ahead of them.

Bert's men fired from their third position. It was effective. The 4 that were limping before were now on the ground – stopped. The welding robots freed themselves and began the process of cutting off the Groundfighters' hands, which held their weapon. One other had been destroyed as well. They were down to 4 robots still moving, but they were slowing and starting to limp. Even one working Groundfighter was one too many.

Now Bert guessed that the enemy's tactics would be similar to what he had experience in the war. Blinded, they would form a line with the remaining Groundfighters next to each other and continue to their designated targets – in this case the positions from which the squads had just fired – killing everything in their arc of fire. With the robots' sensors now down and forward motion reduced to less than twice human running pace Bert once again turned on his transmitter.

"Fire at will. Take them out." Once again gunfire erupted on Mars.

"Sir, we have a casualty. Peterson is hit. He is venting."

"One of you keep firing and the other patch the suit. Medic get up here and evacuate."

Tom heard the order and sent two medics to Peterson's position to evacuate him. Tom could see where he was from the aerial display. They used a small vehicle which had been attached to the second rover. It was almost like a motorcycle with a stretcher in place of a sidecar.

The squad member protecting Peterson had successfully stopped another robot. They had now destroyed two-thirds of them. The remaining three were getting a little close for comfort. The first one to approach them was firing and hit a mine. When the mine went off it punched a wide array of holes in the robot's armor. The robot stopped, stood erect, and then seemed to shoulder its weapon before falling backward into the regolith. Now there were two. One was limping and the other was dragging its right leg, which appeared to have seized at the hip.

The remaining Groundfighters kept on coming. They were heading for the ends of Bert's line and at least one – possibly both – would be out of range of a mine. Bert split his squad. He sent two to support the troops at the end where Peterson went down. The other one he sent to the opposite end. Fortunately, they no longer had to zig-zag to avoid detection.

"Keep concentrating fire on the bodies. See if you can hit a couple of points consistently. That will help punch through."

"Roger," was the response Bert received from his troops.

Over the radio Sheila stated, "Sir, I have an idea. I sent some explosive up with the drone. I may be able to drop it on top of the one on the right."

"Do it," Bert replied. Bert watched as Sheila took over the drone and flew it over the still moving robot. He had not realized that a feature had been added allowing her to lock onto a target and then have the drone follow it right overhead. Once locked on she dropped the explosive and it went off right where the bubble used to join the body. Looking up over the boulder he was crouching behind, Bert saw material emanating from the hole. First the robot fell down and then it exploded. Apparently the ammunition magazine inside had been hit.

"Good shooting, Sheila," Bert shouted. "Now we are down to one."

The remaining robot came over the barrier shielding the men on Bert's left. They quickly scrambled over the barrier to the other side. Getting behind the robot they were out of the immediate line of fire. The robot moved forward and swept the area ahead with its gun. Without sensors the Groundfighter was unable to detect troops behind it. This gave the squad a unique opportunity. At point blank range they fired not directly forward into their enemy, but underneath and slightly upward. This allowed them to penetrate the armor where it was weakest. The rounds exploded inside the robots body. The firing stopped and it fell forward.


	15. Chapter 15: The Reactor

**Chapter 15: The Reactor**

Anton got on the radio. "Hey, when you are all finished having fun over there I have incoming here. I have three Groundfighter robots headed for the reactor. I could use some backup."

This was unexpected, but it was also why Anton and his troops were stationed by the reactor. They had indeed not detected a ship. Apparently one which had Groundfighters directed to seize the reactor.

The robots were still out of range and Anton had the advantage of being on top of a small hill. It wouldn't stop these demons, but it would slow them down a little bit. The problem Anton had is that he needed to make certain that the robots' fire did not damage the reactor. His troops had dug trenches to provide cover and those were angled to promote fire away from the reactor. At least they had had a few hours to fortify this spot before the fight.

Before leaving the habitat Anton had briefed his people on the plan, should they have approaching Groundfighters. Like Bert, he wanted his shooters to aim first for the bubble and then for the body. They would begin at a rock outcropping about a kilometer (0.6 miles) from the trench. They would fire their initial volley and then retreat to the next outcropping about 200 meters (660 ft) away. The key was that they had to split up after the first volley. Once they fired their initial shots their orders were to fire when ready. Keep moving and they would make their last stand at the trench. Anton would be placing the mines himself. They had 4 welding robots, which were concealed wherever there was cover on the approach.

Now it was action time. They were waiting in the foremost rock outcropping for the Groundfighters to come into range. Anton hated waiting. It seemed like such a waste. He was anxious to begin and ultimately end the fight. As a Spetsnatz he had endured jungles, swamps, deserts, forests, and even the arctic. The arctic was the closest thing to fighting here on Mars. He wondered what 'nekulturny' (uncultured) vermin had decided to make war on Mars. He would like to give them a 9 mm headache or a 7.62 mm enema for the trouble.

The Groundfighters came into view. Their 2.5 meter (8 ft) height made them very intimidating. Anton had told his troops to wait until the rangefinders indicated that the robots were 500 meters away. With the guns in the colonist's hands it should be possible to take down these robots.

Daria was intently focused. All that filled her senses was the display and the symbols and images on it. It was almost as if she herself was a machine. She switched her system from the main battle view to the reactor view as soon as she heard Anton's message. She saw the location of the welding robots on her display. This would be harder than the last engagement, because of the way the welding robots were randomly positioned. She had to spot for each of them and determine which would be closest and the order in which they would engage the enemy. Furthermore, it was likely at least some of her welding robots would have to approach from the front. This made them vulnerable. At least she had one extra in reserve.

Anton lay prone. He preferred sniping from a prone position, because it gave the enemy so small a target. He had spent many days of his life in just such a position awaiting the approach of this particular enemy. He was at the center and his comrades were on either side. Since they did not have proper rifle sights they had had to improvise. Optical rangefinders were fitted by the colony's fabricators with a video pickup which fed their helmet data systems via a cord. Anton thought, 'How 20th century!'

Good thing there was a certain level of paranoia initially about power going out in the colony. Thus, someone had the presence of mind to send some optical rangefinders and not just the laser ones. The latter would have been easily detected. The video pickup put everything Anton needed in his helmet display.

His plan was simple. He would take the initial shot. All three Groundfighters would focus on his position and concentrate their return fire on it. Of course once he took the shot he would get out of there quickly. This would distract them momentarily and allow the other two to take out their targets. With luck they would destroy all three bubbles in the first round of fire. From succeeding new positions they would then fire at and destroy the enemy. Anton knew that though this sounded simple it never was. His rangefinder showed 510 meters. It was showtime.

Anton carefully and smoothly worked the trigger of his rifle. He took the shot rolled to his feet and ran. Not bad for someone 70 years old he thought. Anton was just clear of his position when return fire arrived.

He ran and placed himself in his second firing position. Looking back at the enemy he saw that his shot had hit home. The center Groundfighter had no bubble. At this moment his troops took their shots and then ran for their next positions. One shot had hit home. The other had damaged the bubble, but not destroyed it. Anton lay prone again, took his shot, and once again moved fast. Looking back he could see there were no more bubbles.

Now the Goundfighters had stopped. They had no sensors, but they clearly knew their attackers were dispersed. Anton also saw glints of silver in the sun as the welding robots came out of their hiding places, attached to the Groundfighters, and began their work.

Next Anton would see whether or not they would make the move he had seen so many times in the war. He was not disappointed. The three robots moved together to a position central shoulder to shoulder in the arc of fire they had experienced. Then they began moving forward sweeping the area with volleys of shots. As they moved forward they also moved apart along separate lines. This steadily increased the area covered by their volleys. The volleys came about 10 seconds apart. Anything in range would be cut down like wheat with a scythe.

Now Anton waited. With the bubbles destroyed there was no need for radio silence. He ordered his troops, "Move back to our fortifications. I will join you shortly. Do not fire unless I order it or I have been killed. Keep an eye on these machines. Remember, if you have to take shots they go to the body." He observed the movement of the robots and used his rangefinder to calculate when they would reach the mines. It looked like he would primarily rely on mines 1, 5, and 8. His current position was well back and they had used wire to connect the controller to the mines. That way if the robots jammed communication they could still set off the mines. Sometimes the old ways were the best ways. Anton had also used his Spetsnatz training to shape the charges.

It seemed like hours, but was really only about 90 seconds before the center robot approached mine number five. When it was about a meter away Anton pressed the button and in milliseconds the explosive device delivered its shockwave and hardened shrapnel to the body of the robot. The Groundfighter was lifted into the air as the shrapnel tore through its armor and the electronics behind it. The force was so great that it also tore off one of the robot's arms and half of a leg. The thing was still to be considered dangerous until they fully ascertained that it was destroyed. It also appeared that the welding robot on its back was destroyed either directly by the mine or the fact that the Groundfighter had landed hard on top of it. At the very least it was no longer an immediate threat and would not be moving forward anymore.

Daria lost the signal from welding robot number two at the reactor. A quick review showed it flying in the air and then darkness. She had a unit in reserve, so she ordered her robot over to start cutting up the Groundfighter.

Since the Groundfighters were moving blind there was no reaction to the destruction of the center robot. The remaining robots continued to move and fire. It had been possible to draw an arc using the three robots. With one out of commission, however, the other two continued as if the arc still had a full curve. Their programmed reaction was to expand their arcs of fire. Anton had intentionally laid the left side mines so that any robot on that side would encounter them soon after the center. This encounter occurred about 120 seconds after the first. Anton pressed the button and the mine unloaded its lethal force. This time the effect was not as theatrical. The robot stopped and simply fell forward. Anton could see through his sight that the torso had been reduced to shredded metal and this time the welding robot was intact and starting to dismembering the Groundfighter. That left one more.

The remaining robot had been on a track that led toward the first mine in Anton's array. Unfortunately, the thing had turned. One or more of the shrapnel bits had probably hit its torso. Though it had no major sensors, the Groundfighters could detect hits to their torsos. Thus, the robot had turned and was headed in a direction that would be between the mines and make those mines ineffective. It was also still firing. Anton thought, 'These things carried an ungodly amount of ammunition.'

"Listen up troops," Anton said. "I want Yehudi to move 15 meters forward and 30 meters to the left. Then, Yehudi, fire your weapon at the robot. Then get out of there. If you are able to hit his torso it should turn him toward mines 2 and 3. Understood?"

Yehudi responded, "Yes sir!" He then made his move.

Anton saw the impact of Yehudi's round on the robots torso. It was somewhat of a glancing blow. It made a small tear in the metal, but it did not penetrate, though when it exploded there was a chance that it sent at least some material into the body.

The tactic worked. The robot turned and was now headed directly for Yehudi's former position, which was right in line with mines 2 and 3. Anton waited almost two minutes. It was nearly unbearable. As the robot came right up to the mines Anton set them off.

There was something pleasing in watching enemies obliterated. For a moment Anton thought that in the next life that would probably be his one-way ticket to Hell. He had used more explosive in his mines than Bert. Both had succeeded, but still Anton's method had obliterated the final Groundfighter. All four limbs had been blown off. In addition, the torso was in pieces and it was very clear that the the internal electronics were shredded. Sometimes it was better to use a sledgehammer than a screwdriver. He didn't see the welding robot.

"I want two more rounds into each torso of the center and left robots," Anton ordered. "We need to make certain that they are good and dead. After that let the welding robots finish cutting them up. Then collect the scrap."

The rush of adrenaline from the fight had been like old times for Anton. He never felt more alive than when he was in danger of an imminent and violent death. Once again he had conquered his enemy. He walked triumphantly back to his troops and then fell on his face.


	16. Chapter 16: Recovery

**Chapter 16: Recovery**

Daria looked into the infirmary. Fully two days after the fight Anton Vaslov and Harry Peterson lay in beds. Both were unconscious. It was still questionable whether or not they would live. Anton had a major heart attack at the end of the battle for the reactor. The damage to his heart was considerable. His wife Ludmilla had been sitting stoically by his side since he had been brought back into the habitat.

Harry had been seriously injured both by decompression and a major wound to his leg in the battle for the habitat. Back on Earth they might have amputated and then given him a prosthetic or even tried to regrow tissue and save the leg. Martian medicine was much more basic. The debate among the medical personnel was more along the lines of whether or not he could survive an amputation and even to some extent how best to do it. The decision had been to wait and consult physicians on Earth after the blackout. Harry's wife Esther came and went. She was always there if he was conscious, though he was barely lucid with all of the painkillers. Rumor was that she was spending most of the rest of her time in their quarters crying.

Daria walked back to the library with a hundred things going through her mind at once. Tom was waiting there sitting on a chair looking at a book.

Tom looked at the expression on Daria's face and asked, "A penny for your thoughts?"

"Maybe a dollar," Daria replied.

Tom smiled at her. It did not change her expression when he responded, "OK. A dollar then. What's on your mind?"

Daria sat down at her workstation and deadpanned, "Everything. I have had three great friends in this life. You. Jane. And truly Tim O'Neal. Tim was a horrible English teacher, but was also the only person other than you and Jane who really seemed to care for me. He is with God now. That leaves me with you and Jane. What if things had not gone so well in the battle? I could have lost you! I think that I am less worried about dying myself than losing you. What am I or what are we doing here? We could be back in Lawndale where nothing ever happens. It is nice and quiet."

Tom walked over and kissed Daria on top of her head. He stood and looked for a moment at his wife. He really wanted to reassure her. "Daria, I love you and I will fight to the death if need be to protect you. That is why I went out there to support our fighters. Yes, it was the proper thing to do because Mia is the commander and she ordered it. But, the real reason was to protect you from those things." Tom placed great emphasis on the word 'things.'

Daria looked at him with a blank face. Some would call it her 'resting bitch face.' Tom knew that in this case it came from her deep emotional conflicts and the trauma of the last few days. He leaned forward and took both of her hands in his. "Daria, we have had a great life together. We have had many adventures from people chasing us in Europe to raising a family. Admittedly, this is not what we had in mind when we decided to undertake one last great adventure, but it has been quite exciting. Sure, there was a threat and there may yet be another one. We now know to be prepared. I don't like this situation any better than you, but it is what it is. I was scared out there. It doesn't take much to kill someone on a planet that is constantly trying to kill you anyway." He ended his comments with a smile.

Daria actually smiled back at Tom.

Tom looked deeply into Daria's brown eyes. These were the eyes that had captivated him since he was a teenager. "However, I think after this incident you and I need to come to a decision. I put forward that we should complete our contract here and not renew for another five years. We came to help build a colony not fight a war. There are plenty of wars back on Earth."

"At the moment I tend to agree," Daria responded. "We don't have to make a final decision for several months yet. However, I think you are right. It will be interesting to see what reaction we get from Earth."

From the doorway they heard someone clear their throat. Commander Ramirez was standing there. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

Daria replied, "Not at all. We were just discussing the last couple of days and how it has affected us."

Smiling Mia said, "It has affected us all. You are right about building a colony and not engaging in warfare. We all feel that way. I would say especially people like Anton and the others that were once in special forces for various countries looked at coming here as a way to get away from a world where their services were so desired and too often necessary. Now Tom if you will excuse me, I need to talk to Daria about pulling some information together for me. In just a few hours it will be time to have a conversation with Houston."

"Sure," Tom said as he got up. "Daria, I will see you at dinner." Tom walked out of the room.

Mia sat down and looked at Daria. "Don't worry Daria. This feeling will pass. It happens to everyone the first time they come face-to-face with warfare. It is a very clarifying experience and shows you what is important."

"Thanks commander," Daria replied.

"Now, I need a couple of things from you ASAP."

Daria looked up at Mia and responded, "Sure."

"First, I need a summary video of the battles that is no more than 10 minutes long. This is strictly for internal use. I am going to call an 'all hands' meeting at 3:00 pm."

"I can do that," Daria replied.

"Then I need a second video to include in my communications with Earth. It needs to cover the battle, but it can't give away what weapons we used or even show the destroyed Groundfighters in such a way that someone looking at the video might be able to surmise what type of weapons we have."

Daria perked up. She straightened in her chair and looked right into Mia's eyes, "It sounds like you don't trust our friends back in Houston."

"I don't. I wish that I could. But, between almost everything from here becoming open information and the sheer number of people involved in supporting the colony, I think that we likely have one or several moles on Earth sifting the information for things that can be used against us. I have no intention of making their job an easy one. That may mean defying directions or even orders from Houston. It could lead to my being relieved. They do have that authority, though I could be re-elected as commander by my fellow Martians. In the meantime they would appoint someone as temporary commander."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Daria said.

"You and me both. Now get to work on those videos!" Mia ordered with a smile.

Daria smiled back, said "Yes Ma'am," and then turned to her workstation.

—

The theater was quiet as Commander Mia Ramirez walked in and went to the podium. Daria guessed that she very intentionally dressed casually for this event. Probably to provide a feeling of calm and normalcy. Well, at least as normal as once could expect right now. Everybody was present, except Anton, Harry, and their wives. Daria sat with Tom in the second row.

Mia began, "Fellow Martians. As we have all experienced during the past few days our colony was attacked and we successfully defended our home. I wish that I could say that this was the end of conflict on our world, but I would be quite naive if I did. As a result of this attack I am taking the following actions," a slide appeared on the display above and behind her.

"First, I am establishing a defense committee composed of three former military officers to evaluate our defenses and make recommendations to the council and to me regarding how we can better prepare for any future attacks."

"Second, I am establishing an armaments committee composed of one former military person, one fabricator, and an expert on materials we have available to us here on Mars. We need effective weapons which will use materials available here as much as possible. They will report to both the council and myself."

"Third, the council met in session today and formally established the Martian Militia. The Militia is composed of all Martians and will be led by four officers. The Militia can be activated by me, the council, or if I am unavailable the vice-commander. You will hear more about the Militia in coming weeks. There will from time to time be drills organized by the Militia leadership."

"Fourth, the council has voted to establish three levels of commendation for members of the Militia. The first is the Martian Legion of Honor. This will go to members of the Militia who have sustained life threatening wounds in battle or have lost their lives. The second is the Martian Cross. The Martian Cross will be awarded to members of the Militia who have displayed extraordinary bravery or ingenuity in battle. Finally, there is the Hero of Mars. A Hero of Mars will not only have demonstrated outstanding bravery under fire, but accomplished a significant goal in defending Mars without regard to his or her own life or injury. Please note that any of these may be awarded posthumously. These commendations will be awarded based on recommendation of a commanding officer and an approving vote by the council."

Mia paused a moment and then went on, "Now please join me in watching a brief video of the battle so that you can understand what our forces faced." Daria's ten minute video started to run and Mia took her seat.

When the video had ended Mia stood and stated, "Now I need to talk to you about how we will move forward. You have all received a few moments ago an order from me prohibiting the transfer to anyone on Earth of pictures or descriptions of our armaments or the battle damage to the robots. Descriptions include verbal descriptions to relatives or others back on Earth. In World War II they said, 'Loose lips sink ships.' Well, here we have to think that 'Descriptions can lead to destruction.' If our enemy figures out how we defeated their robots, then the next time they send them they will have improved the design. Even with our support system in Houston I will not be giving that kind of detail."

There was a slightly audible gasp from the assembly.

Continuing with her speech Mia stated, "We will also be making some technical changes. We are reconfiguring our radar systems in order to better detect low observable spacecraft approaching the planet. We will be fabricating more drones and they will be programmed to watch our ground area out to several hundred kilometers. There will be other changes coming, but the council and I are trying to make these as least intrusive into our daily lives together as possible." Looking up from her notes the commander took off her reading glasses and stated, "Folks, we dodged a bullet here. We were lucky and I thank God for that."

Looking around she said, "I want to let you know that both Anton and Harry are conscious. Both had surgery and came through reasonably well. Our doctors are treating them as best they can. Please do not all rush to the infirmary. They need their rest. Now go back to your quarters and spend the evening having dinner and appreciating your spouses." With that she stepped down from the podium and the crowd stood and began wandering back to their quarters or the dining hall.

—

Daria walked into the command center and over to Commander Ramirez's workstation. Looking at her she wondered if it was really possible that the amount of gray hair on her head had doubled in the past few days? "You wanted to see me?"

Mia looked up somewhat wearily from whatever she was doing. "Yes. I wanted to thank you for the two videos. They are really really good. You worked in TV for a while as I recall."

"Yes," Daria replied. "I spent a year right after college writing for 'Sick Sad World.' It was what I would call a formative experience!"

Mia chuckled, "I really miss that show. It was always entertaining. Can you think of a good title for our situation?"

"Already did." Daria quipped, "Martians fight off alien robot invaders from Earth. Tonight on Sick Sad World!"

"Kind of gives it a twist doesn't it?" the commander asked.

"Sure does," Daria replied. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"Not right now. I needed that bit of humor. I am on with Houston in about 15 minutes, so thanks again."

"No problem. Good luck with Houston," Daria said. She then turned and left the command center.

Commander Ramirez sat at the master communications station in the command center. She was wearing her dress military uniform. Tonight she was Colonel Mia Ramirez, Ph.D., U.S. Army, Retired – though by the nature of her job here on Mars she had clearly been reactivated. Not only was this going to be a difficult topic, but the long delays due to the speed of light and Earth being at its farthest from Mars would make it excruciating.

Earth was now in the clear and so Mia began, "Houston this is Commander Mia Ramirez at Aries on Mars. I am sorry to report that the colony has had its first armed conflict. However, I am pleased to report that we defeated the enemy. We were attacked by a dozen Groundfighter robots. We have taken casualties, but we survived. As you can see from the attached video, I believe that these robots were Chinese in origin. All of the markings and components lead to that conclusion."

"It is my understanding that among the personnel scheduled to arrive in the next few weeks will be the first Chinese taikonauts to arrive on Mars. All personnel arriving from now on will be subject to Martian immigration and customs. Also, any craft approaching or orbiting the planet and any craft landing on the surface without prior clearance from the Aries Command Center will be considered hostile and we will respond accordingly. I am attaching the text of these policies as passed by the Martian Council and signed by me. I am also sending information on the nature of the injuries suffered by our casualties and their names. They are responding well to treatment. This is Commander Ramirez. Out."

That message would take almost 24 minutes to reach Houston and she expected it would take a while for them to get back to her. Next she had to make a military call. They would likely be much more useful than the civilians in this matter. She set the narrow beam that would send the encoded communication.

"This is Colonel Mia Ramirez command code 4586734141 with a priority message for National Command Authority." Mia went on to go through the situation and the battle in greater detail than she had for the civilians. She transmitted the video she had shown at the meeting that afternoon. She also sent some technical information they had taken from the robots. Mia was reasonably certain that there would not be a leak from this group. That was not the case with Houston. However, even with the military she did not describe the munitions they had fabricated, though she expected a good engineer would be able to make an educated guess as to how those holes were made in the robots and how they destroyed the insides. She ended her call with, "Please advise on next actions."

With that she got up from the communications console and left the room. Now it was time to shower, change, get some dinner, and get a big cup of the Martian tea with extra caffeine. She really wanted coffee, but that was simply not available yet.

It was about an hour later when a message from Houston arrived at the command center. Mia had returned just 5 minutes earlier and read the initial response from the military. It had read: 'Message received. Analysis proceeding. Will inform. -NCA.' Now it was time to see what the civilians were saying. Mia selected the video message and watched.

"Houston to Commander Ramirez at Aries on Mars. We have received your communication and find it quite disturbing. The Chinese space agency has contacted us and stated that they sent several peaceful exploratory robots to Mars, which initially communicated with their data center prior to the conjunction blackout, but are now silent. They are asking what has happened to them and if you can assist in locating them. We are concerned that you destroyed their exploratory robots. Perhaps you misunderstood their mission. We will need more information about the fate of these robots including detailed pictures. The Chinese were counting on these devices to find new areas for colonization. Also, they made last minute changes to the crew they are sending you. The original six taikonauts were stricken with a severe flu, which at the time was raging in China. These six scientists are experts on habitability and resource extraction. You are to cooperate with them and they will investigate what happened to their robots."

Mia was doing a slow burn. If she had a pistol she might have shot the monitor. What were these idiots thinking? The message got worse.

"As for things such as treating spacecraft as hostiles and implementing immigration and customs – you are ordered to stand down. It is bad enough that you may have destroyed a major mission of exploration. To further complicate matters is unacceptable. We are attaching the updated MTV flight list. Houston out."

Well, she would show this to the council and they would have a discussion. But, the fact is they would disobey these orders. With the MTV on the way it would be over a year before they could send someone to relieve her and even then that person might not get a very warm welcome. As it was, the mood in the colony was such that the arriving Chinese would be lucky not to see the beauty of the Martian surface without the benefit of a helmet or surface suit.

Mia pulled a paper envelope from her desk. Written on the form was only a number. Then she got out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote 12 names. Mia got up out of her seat and paced for a few minutes holding the envelope. Then she went off to find Daria.


	17. Chapter 17: Deceptions

**Chapter 17: Deceptions**

Daria had just finished brushing her teeth and was ready to go to bed. From the way he was breathing Daria could tell that Tom was already asleep. As she walked over to the bed she could hear a quiet knocking on the door to their quarters. She went over and opened it. Mia was standing there backlit by the light from the hallway. Daria stepped through and closed the door behind her.

Mia started, "Daria, I'm sorry to bother you at this late hour."

"That's OK. What do you need?" she replied.

Mia handed Daria the envelope. "This envelope contains the codes used to access a top secret military intelligence database back on Earth. I want you to put together a job to run a full background check on the six Chinese taikonauts who will be arriving soon." She handed Daria the piece of paper. "On this paper are 12 names. The first 6 are the original group of taikonauts scheduled to come to Mars. The second 6 names are their replacements. These replacements happened at the last minute. According to Houston the change was made because the first 6 all became ill. I have my suspicions. I will send you the pictures of all of these people as soon as I return to my desk. Meantime you can set up the protocols for the job. By the way, as Base Commander I am increasing your clearance level to Top Secret."

"Yes Commander," Daria replied. "Let me go put some clothes and shoes on and I will head for the library."

"When you are done send the job package to me and return the envelope and paper. I have to actually send this thing off. I will wait for you to be done before I retire for the night."

"Understood," Daria responded. "See you in a couple of hours."

Daria looked at the clock. It was 2:00 am. Having finished the job submission she sent it to Commander Ramirez. Daria was not an intelligence agent, though for many years she had written novels about one. She was an English professor. It didn't take much intelligence, however, to get a good feel for what Commander Ramirez suspected. Still, maybe the Chinese were honest when they said that their taikonauts had fallen ill and they had to use the backups. Right. Just looking at the eyes of these people gave Daria chills. Something was up and she didn't like the possibilities. It was a good thing that they had Mia as their commander. She was on top of things.

As Daria left the library she looked around the hallway. The lights were dimmed for nighttime and most everyone in the colony was asleep. Hopefully she would be soon as well. The new habitat was lightyears ahead of the habitat modules she, Tom, and all the others had lived in when they arrived. Carpeting on the floor kept sound from echoing so much. They had printed the carpet right there on Mars. The "Great Atrium" gave a feeling of space and light. There were even plants growing as decoration, oxygen sources, a fountain, and even food. The habitat's hull was a cylinder made of thick titanium. Being located in an old lava tube, the 12 story building had no windows. That also kept the atmosphere fully sealed inside and further reduced the radiation levels. Inside the habitat radiation levels were no higher than the background radiation found on Earth. Most of the life support systems were on the lowest 2 levels. The top level gave way to an airlock which opened into the pressurized vehicle and work areas. There was a pressurized walkway to the old habitat modules, which were now used as shops. Another walkway led to the agricultural domes. It was really a marvel and Daria had to admit that she was proud to have been one of the people who helped build this place. Now that the electromagnetic launch rail was complete the way they lofted material to the MTV would be totally revolutionized.

Daria arrived at her quarters. She quietly opened the door and went in. Tom was sound asleep. Tiptoeing in the near darkness she changed back into her nightgown and got into bed. Tom woke just enough to give her a kiss and in moments both were asleep.

Mia looked over the information she received in response to the query Daria had prepared the previous night. This was not good. The names of the arriving Chinese were all false. The query which had brought out the real information was the one using facial recognition algorithms. The faces of the men had all been altered. The women had not had the same level of plastic surgery. The main reason that she was able to get hits was that there was post-surgery intelligence on all of them. The information came from security databases the civilians in Houston would never have seen. It was too sensitive.

The list was a rogues gallery with backgrounds ranging from war criminal to slave overseer. These people were not needed nor would they be welcome on Mars.

As she sat there the communication from NCA arrived. The way the header was marked, Mia put of a pair of VR goggles, plugged them into the secure connection in her console, and played the message.

The text read, "Commander Ramirez: We have viewed and analyzed the information you sent to us. Excellent work. You took the correct actions. I will personally be meeting with the NASA Administrator and the Mars Program Director within the week. I will be making it clear that they are to support your actions, though there will be no communication from them specifically saying that. Our adversaries do not need to be tipped off that we are on to them more than they are so far."

The message continued, "I am initiating diplomatic actions as well. This was clearly a violation of the Mars Treaty. If there are materials that you need for defending the colony, then please forward that list to me and we will find a way to get those things to you. When I meet with the Administrator and Director I will insist that when the MTV returns to Earth that the planned upgrades all be performed right away. This will keep it in orbit for at least a year. It will at least slow down part of any plans our adversaries may have."

The message concluded, "You have done good work. Implement immigration and customs. I will get the NASA people off of your back. You have my full support. Good luck. -NCA"

Mia sighed as she removed the VR goggled and unplugged the wire. It was good to have support in high places. Now to take a break, actually spend some time with her husband, and just generally recover from all of the activity. It would not be long before the MTV arrived and there would be more unpleasantness.


	18. Chapter 18: Welcome to Mars

**Chapter 18: Welcome to Mars**

Daria sat at her desk in the library using VR goggles to see the view from Tom's rover. He was leading the welcoming committee for the new arrivals. She could also hear the chatter over the radio. The landing craft had just touched down and the crew was going through the arrival checklist before opening the hatch and exiting the craft.

Daria's mind wandered thinking about the absolute explosion of video data recently. Since the battle the colony had a swarm of drones flying almost constantly with powerful AI packages to detect any type of movement or deviation from the norm within a radius of 500 km (310 miles). She had a long talk with Commander Ramirez and the Council about just how much video needed to be archived. Once they had super detailed images of the entire area there was little incentive to keep all the images, unless something changed. On Mars most of the observed changes had to do with the way sand or regolith formed a dune or piled up by some rocks. Now the fear was always that more stealth spaceships would show up.

Daria watched as the dozen new colonists one-by-one came down the ladder of the landing craft. It was somewhat of a delicate process, because the new arrivals were all in spacesuits. Tom and Darren Choi, another rover driver, were there in surface suits. This made the two of them much more agile than the people disembarking in full spacesuits.

Tom walked up and greeted each of the first six out of the landing craft with a handshake. "Welcome to Mars," he said to each one. Then one at a time Jimmy Reynolds – Tom's co-pilot for this mission – helped them to their rover and made certain they were properly seated and hooked into the life-support system. He also stowed their luggage. Once Tom's rover was loaded, he and Jimmy drove off with their six new arrivals.

Daria switched her camera source to the other rover. Darren was paired with his wife Marcie. As Singaporeans they spoke English and Cantonese. However, both were also quite fluent in Mandarin. While it was expected that the arriving taikonauts would speak English, Commander Ramirez wanted the colony's only Mandarin speakers there to welcome them and make them feel at ease.

The taikonauts came down one at a time just like the earlier arrivals. Darren greeted them, shook their hands, and Marcie escorted them to the rover and made certain they were secured. It was Darren's job to stow their gear. Then they started back toward the habitat. Darren drove slower than Tom did in order to give more time to process the first arrivals into the colony before the second group arrived.

Darren drove over the small hill which provided the first full view of the colony. Daylight was beginning to fade and the lights were on in the main habitat's vehicle area, which was under a transparent half-dome. There were also lights along the passages to the agriculture area and the old habitat modules. The exterior of the old habitat modules were particularly flooded with light.

Darren pulled up to the old habitats behind Tom's rover. Then he made the announcement to his passengers, "We are going to get out here and you will go into Habitat 2. We will guide you into the airlock. Once inside the airlock and following pressurization there is a cleaning protocol for all arriving personnel in space suits. This ensures that no disease organisms are brought into the colony. Do not remove your helmets while in the airlock. When the light turns green you can open the door and enter the dressing area. Once you have all exited the airlock the door will close and secure automatically. There are lockers for each of you and clothes inside the lockers. Remove your spacesuits and get dressed. There are chairs in there as well. Please be seated until your name is called."

"Why are we doing it like this?" Hua Gao asked.

Darren answered, "We do a quick medical check on all arrivals. Our policy is that medical checks are private and so we do them one-by-one. It is not invasive. They take your temperature, pulse, blood pressure, listen to your heart and lungs. They also check your coordination. Mainly it is to be certain that you do not have any significant health problems after being couped up in the MTV for so long."

Li Xu asked, "What would you do if you found someone had a problem? Say pneumonia?"

Marcie replied to that one, "Well, we have a very well equipped infirmary and two excellent doctors. We have the ability to do most of what a hospital on Earth can do. If you were found to have pneumonia, then you would be taken to the infirmary and treated."

Darren added, "Once you are cleared through medical, then you will receive your quarters assignment. You will be able to pick up your luggage and someone will escort you to your quarters so that you can get settled. Then in a couple of hours you will be introduced to the individuals who will help you understand our operations and guide you to your work assignments. Oh, and you will have two days to rest and get used to Martian gravity – we have a great gym. I highly recommend it. So, in three days you will be ready to get to work."

"Where do you enter?" Li Xu asked.

Marcie responded, "We will be taking the rovers over to the main habitat vehicle area. We enter directly."

Darren and Marcie unbuckled and began assisted the newcomers in getting out of their seats and helped them into the airlock. Once it was shut on the outside, Darren and Marcie followed Tom and Jimmy driving their vehicles to the main habitat and entering the vehicle airlock. It cycled, they parked, and then headed inside.

'++++++'

The six Chinese taikonauts changed into the clothes provided for them in the lockers. They looked them over carefully and noted that the flag patch, name strip, and assignment patch were correct and in the proper locations. They dressed and waited.

After about five minutes the door opened and a woman said, "Mr. Liu, would you please come with me." He followed her into a very plain room with a chair, table, and a counter with what appeared to be some medical instruments on it.

A man with a laboratory coat turned and looked at him. He said, "Hello Mr. Liu. I am Dr. Walter. You can call me Max. We are all on a first name basis here."

"Thank you doctor. I mean Max. Please call me Donghai." He had to control himself. This informality was going to have to change.

"Certainly! Welcome to Mars. Now I just need to make a few checks and I will be asking you for a sample. You understand that living so close together we need to be certain everyone is healthy. We would not want a virus or other infection to run rampant through the colony!"

"Of course not," Donghai stated.

Dr. Walter went about checking Donghai's temperature, thoroughly checked his lymph nodes, throat, and asked him several questions about how he had felt over the past few days. Donghai had to control himself as this was getting rather long. He had to remember that it was necessary to try to blend in, even if he detested this American informal style of address that seemed to be the norm here.

"Finally," Dr. Walter stated. "I am giving you this mild laxative. I need a stool sample and it should work within a few minutes."

Though he was getting a bit suspicious, Donghai went ahead and drank the small cup of liquid. It really had no taste. A few seconds later he realized he could no longer move or speak!

Two large men entered the room and grabbed him under each arm. He could not resist and he could not respond. They took him to what looked like a bedroom and laid him on the bed. It was a nice enough room. It looked like something from a cheap hotel. Donghai kept willing his arms and legs to move. Nothing happened. He still could not speak either. As hard as he tried he was unable to do anything or resist the fatigue that washed over him. It did not take very many minutes for him to lose consciousness.

'++++++'

In the exterior hallway Commander Ramirez said to the doctor and the men with him, "Good. We have one down. Let's get this over with and put our 'guests' in their 'rooms' as quickly as possible.


	19. Chapter 19: Truth

**Chapter 19: Truth**

Anton really hated sitting in a wheelchair. Yes, he had had a heart attack. But, he was perfectly capable of standing. He was quite sure he could walk as well. The drugs they had given him relieved the pain in his chest. He was a bit tired, but the battle had been fierce and he had fallen ill at the end. So, why did they make him sit in this chair?

"Anton," Dr. Walter said. "I know what is going on in your head. I am here to tell you that you need time to heal and we need to put you in cardiac rehab. You will find it physically challenging, but you will overcome this challenge as you have many others. In the meantime, please stay in the chair. It will make things better for all of us. You are a brave soldier. I do not want to fight you!"

Anton gave Dr. Walter a look of resignation. "Fine," he said. "That is what the Americans say when they disagree with you, but I will do what you want anyway. Fine. But there is one condition. I want to see him and when I do he will only see me on my own two feet. I will not allow him to see me in a wheelchair!"

"Fine," Dr. Walter replied. "I have a condition as well. Take one of these nitroglycerin pills before going in to 'visit' your old 'friend.' After that do not spend more than 15 or at the most 20 minutes with him. It would be to stressful for you. Understand?"

Anton looked at Dr. Walter, nodded his head and replied simply, "Da."

'+++++'

Donghai sat at a table in a room that contained only the table and one other chair. His wrists were in handcuffs and these shackled him to the table. For the last hour he had sat there calling and demanding to be released. There was no excuse treating him like this. Like a common criminal! When he and his group took over this colony he would see that those who had abused him would wish for their own deaths.

The door opened and in walked Commander Ramirez in casual military uniform.

"Good morning Donghai Liu," she said quite simply.

Looking at her Donghai held up his hands as best he could and boldly stated, "Who are you and what is the meaning of this? I demand to be allowed to contact my government immediately. This is a disgraceful way to treat a Chinese taikonaut on a peaceful mission of exploration. It is a violation of the Mars treaty! Release me immediately."

Mia walked over and sat down across from Donghai. Her eyes traced his restraints from his wrists to the table and further to the anchor in the floor. She sat and looked a the man for about a minute.

Donghai stared back at her. He said, "Are you unable to speak? Answer my questions and release me." It sounded very much like an order.

Very calmly Mia stated, "I am Commander Ramirez. I am in charge of this base. I might consider releasing Donghai Liu. But that is not who you are."

"Are you crazy woman?" Donghai responded. He was now starting to get a little worried. What did this woman know? "Of course I am Donghai Liu. You were sent my picture and information. I am a taikonaut. My government has supplied this information to you already."

"I am quite aware of the things your government has supplied," Mia replied still keeping her tone steady and quiet. "I certainly hope there was never a Donghai Liu who met some terrible fate."

"My name is a common one in China," Donghai replied. Adopting a more conciliatory tone he stated, "Surely someone has fed you false information. Like you I am an explorer only trying to carry out his mission."

Mia shook her head and pursed her lips. "What is you mission? I mean your real mission."

"To explore Mars. The same as you," Donghai replied.

Mia quietly stated, "I don't think so. I think your mission is to take over this colony and force its inhabitants to mine the valuable minerals of this land for China."

"Preposterous," Donghai stated flatly. Surely he could bluff this simple woman.

"No. I think I am right," Mia said. "You see, a simple taikonaut is an explorer and would not undertake such a monsterous mission."

In his anger Donghai spit out, "Fantasy. You have been reading too many old science fiction novels. Do I look like some kind of boogeyman?" He chastised himself for showing anger as soon as it came out.

Smirking, Mia said softly, "Actually, yes you do."

"Crazy woman," Donghai replied.

"Maybe not as crazy as you think," Mia responded. In a much harder tone and a louder voice she said, "Donghai Liu may not look like a boogeyman, but just as Dr. Jekyll had his Mr. Hyde you have another identity."

Donghai was now getting worried. What did this woman know? He hoped that he had not started to sweat, but he did feel hot.

Mia continued, "You see, I know that you are not some taikenaut named Donghai Liu. Your name is Bojing Dong. And you Mr. Dong are wanted for war crimes." Opening a pocket Mia removed a piece of paper. She did this quite slowly in order to increase the effect. As she slowly unfolded it she looked at her prisoner and said, "I am officially placing you under arrest for war crimes committed during the robot war. Upon return to Earth you will arrive in Europe, where you will be turned over to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. You are charged with multiple violations of the Geneva Convention and your crimes include torturing prisoners of war. Altering your appearance doesn't fool modern identification systems. We have your DNA to prove who you are."

"You lie," Bojing said. "This is clearly a racist act on your part. You are trying to keep Asians out of your colony."

Mia stared back at him, "Think what you like. It will change nothing. Now someone wants to talk to you about your real mission here. I suggest that you answer his questions truthfully and immediately." She stood up and left the room.

Bojing sat there and stared at the door as it closed behind her. These Americans and Europeans. They might speak harshly, but they were weak cowards. There was nothing they could do to make him talk. Making someone talk was a skilled art. Sometimes a judicious application of pain would loosen the tongue. Sometimes the mere anticipation of pain was sufficient. They would do nothing.

The door opened and Bojing watched the old man shuffle in and sit down across from him. The guy really looked bad. He was pale, clearly has some difficulty walking. Was this his interrogator? Did they really think that this poor excuse for a man would be able to get intelligence from him. They were crazy.

The old man smiled at Bojing and extended his left hand. Bojing lifted his shackled right hand and extended it, though he was just a few centimeters short of meeting the hand that was offered to him.

Anton smiled at Bojing. With a single motion he grabbed Bojing's wrist, pinned his hand to the table and using his right hand plunged a military knife through it. As Bojing screamed in pain he instinctively reached for the handle of the knife to remove it. That is when he found that the shackles were too short. In that moment of realization Anton repeated the move and pinned Bojing's left hand to the table with another military knife. Bojing continued screaming in pain.

Anton yelled at Bojing, "So, Dong, we meet again. You were Colonel Dong when we first met. I was simply a lieutenant in the Spetsnaz. We first met in Mongolia during the war. You hurt some of my friends very badly. Others you killed very slowly."

Eyes wide open Bojing just looked at the man. He wanted to free his hands from the knives.

Looking at Bojing, Anton remarked rather casually, "I suggest that you do not move your hands. First, it will only cause you excruciating pain. Second, if you do nothing your hands will recover. If you move however, then you will cut tendons, nerves, and muscles so that your hands become useless. If you struggle too hard, then you may cut an artery and bleed to death. That would be unfortunate. I expect us to have a nice talk and you will tell me everything I want to know. When we are done, then I will remove the knives and the doctor will treat your wounds – which at the moment are actually quite minor – except for the pain, of course."

Amidst his screaming in pain, Bojing felt his anger and hatred rise. He wanted nothing more than to kill this running dog.

Anton backed his chair up a little bit and then repositioned himself. He crossed his legs and made himself as comfortable as possible. Feeling a little peckish, he pulled out a granola bar and began to eat it slowly. He made sure he got every crunch possible out of it. Right now there was time to kill while Bojing calmed down. By the time he had finished his snack, Bojing looked like he might be ready to talk.

Anton started off, "So, Dong, tell me what you mission is here on Mars."

"Go to hell," Bojing replied.

Anton sighed, "I probably will. You do many horrible things in the special forces. I have done them all. The priest back home says that God will forgive. I hope so."

Bojing sneered at him, "There is no god. You are just superstitious."

"Maybe," Anton replied. "But I find the concept preferable than just the blackness of eternal oblivion. I would note that even Mao told the American President Nixon that he 'heard God calling' to him. Still, you might wish to tell me about your mission. It would certainly put off your meeting with God or eternal oblivion. Besides, it would bring you relief for your hands."

Bojing made a grunting sound in response.

Anton sat and stared at Bojing Dong. He had spent time after the war working with Russian intelligence trying to locate this pig. Bojing was a 'princeling' from a family placed highly in both the communist party and the army. His arrogance and high-handedness were constantly reinforced by the wealth, power, and privilege he enjoyed. Other people, especially foreigners, meant nothing to him. Bojing was a psychopath. He was happy to help the 'cause of the war' by committing dozens of atrocities. Anton imagined this had been the way of some of the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War that the West called World War II. Russia suffered terribly in that war. They suffered terribly in the robot war as well, except that much of the suffering was in Siberia rather than in European Russia. To be Russian was to suffer.

The verbal back and forth went on for the entire morning. Then Anton announced, "I need to go and get my lunch. I will see you in a while." With that statement he rose and walked out the door. With the door secured Anton slumped into his wheelchair. Ludmilla wheeled him back to the main habitat, where she took him to the infirmary.

The two talked as she rolled him along.

Ludmilla said, "I think you need to take a break. This has been a stressful morning for you. Just seeing that man is bad enough, but having to interrogate him as well? What was Commander Ramirez thinking?"

"I asked for this my love," Anton stated. "Bring me something to eat. I will rest and then see Dong later. In the meantime I believe Erwin will be talking to him. I would like to hear that conversation!"

Ludmilla chuckled, "I am glad I am not Daria! Think of all that poor woman has to read, watch, and listen to! Keeping the history of this colony is getting quite complex. It is not just about gathering samples and building hooches anymore."

Anton laughed, "Yes. I like that little American woman, but I do not think she really has the stomach for hard times. I think our situation here is turning slowly into a Russian novel. More and more people are suffering. I dread what may come next. Maybe real aliens will attack us!"

'+++++'

Daria felt numb. She had set up the system for automatically transcribing, and if necessary translating, as well as logging the interrogations. Commander Ramirez wanted transcripts only. No video or audio was to be collected or kept of the sessions. From what little Daria could surmise the conditions were not good in those rooms. She was worried that some of what was going on might be classified as torture, but all she was able to access was the written records.

Thinking about the meeting she had a few hours earlier with Mia, Daria was not at all satisfied. She respected Mia and Mia was the commander. Still, Daria was not pleased at what she was seeing in these transcripts. No matter how badly they wanted information, her point to Mia was that torture would only elicit what they wanted to hear and not necessarily the truth. For the most part Mia agreed with her and stated that with the exception of Bojing Dong, there was no torture. They were not being made comfortable or given any feeling of safety. However, there was no physical abuse. Even Mia felt that Anton had let his anger get the best of him and gone too far. However, unlike the other prisoners, Anton knew this guy. She was watching the situation and if there was any real threat to Dong's life, then she would step in. Mia was willing to let Anton complete his interrogation. He was by far the most experienced interrogator on Mars.

So far after about 12 hours all but one of the prisoners had broken. Progress was being made. They had admitted to knowing about the robot invasion. All but one had admitted to their real identities. All but one had revealed their part of the mission. The one that remained defiant was their leader, Bojing Dong.

'+++++'

Anton sat once again across from Bojing Dong. The man did not look well. The knives through his hands probably had something to do with it. For the past two hours Anton had been showing Bojing pictures from the war and after the war. He knew these pictures had been cleared and that the people who obtained the pictures were either safe or already dead. In either case, Anton walked Boijing through the war crimes he – Bojing – had committed and how his face had been transformed after the war. What could not be transformed, however, was Bojing's DNA. Erwin had gone over the pictures with him before. Anton went over the DNA evidence.

"Alright," Bojing wearily stated. "I am Colonel Bojing Dong. I was a soldier like you and I followed my orders."

Anton smiled. It was rare for Anton to smile. He rarely smiled. As a good Russian he smiled when there was a reason to smile. He never quite understood why the Americans cultivated smiling the way they did. He though it made them seem mentally deficient – which he knew well that they were not. "That defense did not work at Nuremberg and it won't work in The Hague either."

Pausing for a minute or two, Anton looked at his enemy. Anton breathed in deeply, then said somewhat quietly, "So, Dong. You admit your true identity. That is the first step in improving your situation. Now, tell me about your mission here on Mars. Your real mission."

Bojing looked at Anton. He was weary, in pain, and could not endure much longer. He knew he needed medical treatment. The nausea was becoming unbearable. As always, he could probably put together what this dog wanted to hear. He could also probably put together enough half-truths for his masters back in Beijing to keep himself out of prison and maybe even get them to send a hit man once this old man returned to Earth. He would have plenty of time to put together a coherent story with his comrades on the MTV as they flew back to Earth. No one else on the thing would be able to speak Mandarin, so they would be free to converse.

Bojing cleared his throat. "Very well. I will tell you of our mission. It is very simple. The Groundfighters were supposed to subdue you. I suppose that you would not like to tell me how you defeated them."

"How were they expected to do that?" Anton asked in a calm and steady voice.

"I do not know. I expect that since you were supposed to be unarmed they would just punch through your outer walls and herd you into an area and we would find you there. Frankly, the people in charge of that did not share their strategy with us. We knew only that we expected to alight from the landing craft, kill the others with us as quickly as possible, take their oxygen, and then walk to the colony. Once here we would enter the colony and meet up with the robots. We had code words they would understand. This would give us control over their actions and through them control over you and therefore the colony. Now will you remove these things and get me some medical attention?"

Anton stared at him for a moment. Then he said, "One more thing. What is the purpose of taking the colony? What would you do once you had taken command?"

"We want the mineral resources for our own use and to hold a monopoly on Martian resources. With the colony in hand, we would be in the position to destroy any approaching spacecraft and hold this territory."

With a look of disgust, Anton asked, "And what about the people here. What would you have done with them?"

Bojing gave Anton a wry grin. "I would have enjoyed watching you work until you die. Once the colony was in hand we would bring in our own people and you would serve us until you either died of natural causes or we chose to terminate you. The fact is that you are so old that you are of little value to us. We might simple take you to the nearest airlock and dispose of you. You can thank me that I would grant you such a quick death."

Anton looked at Bojing. Then he sneered, "You will get no thanks from me you dog. If it was up to me you would not have a quick death. You can be thankful that your fate is not up to me. You are lucky that I keep my promises." With that Anton stood up, pinned Bojing's wrists with his left forearm and then with his right withdrew the knives.

Bojing screamed in pain. He looked down at the blood oozing from his hands. The pain was excruciating.

Anton rose and looked at Bojing. He stated simply, "Now I will go and summon the doctor to treat you." He turned and walked out of the room. Outside Ludmilla was waiting with his wheelchair.

"You do not look well my love," Ludmilla said.

"That is too bad," Anton replied. "I feel quite good. I may not have had total revenge on that pig, but at least I was able to serve the dish cold. I hope he spends the rest of his life in a Dutch prison thinking about our encounter. He deserves no less."

Ludmilla looked at her husband and then started pushing his wheelchair. She said nothing.

"Take us to the infirmary," Anton said. "I need to tell Dr. Walter to come and treat the pig before he is moved."

"Why do you not just call him?" Ludmilla asked.

"Because it will take longer to get there and prolong Dong's pain," Anton replied. "Dong is only oozing blood. He could sit there for hours and not bleed to death. I am very good with my knives! But, I promised him that I would get the doctor to treat him and I am a man of my word. I did not say how quickly the doctor would come."

After a couple of minutes Ludmilla stated, "Maybe the doctor can give you something as well. You could probably use some more nitroglycerin. I see pain on your face. Dr. Walter just finished repairing your heart!" From that point on neither of them said anything until they reached the infirmary, where Anton told Dr. Walter that he had a patient to treat.


	20. Chapter 20: Good Riddence

**Chapter 20: Good Riddance**

Anton sat at the conference table in his wheelchair. Also present were Mia, Erwin, and the others who had interrogated the prisoners. Daria was present to record the session for the colony archives. Anton was very tired after the long interrogation sessions, but he found it fascinating as the various people presented the results of their work and they developed a fuller picture of what had been planned for them. It was not pretty, but it was fascinating.

Anton raised his hand and Mia called on him, "Is it possible that we could simply put these war criminals out an airlock?"

"No, Anton," Mia replied. "Very funny."

"I was serious," Anton responded.

Mia gave Anton an exasperated look, "I know. The answer is still no. We are going to send them back to Earth on the MTV. We have already discussed this. This time we will make certain that their landing destination is in Europe. They will then be arrested and sent to The Hague. This is not a time for you to settle old scores, though I fully understand you desire to do so."

"I assume when the time comes you will send me to The Hague as well?" Anton replied.

"No." Mia replied. "You will go back to Russia. Do not misunderstand me. I do not like what you did to Bojing. Maybe the Spetsnaz do it that way, but I will not put up with it under my command. After this meeting you are confined to quarters for a month unless one of the doctors orders you to the infirmary. Ludmilla will be allowed to bring you a tray of food for each meal. Do I make myself clear?"

"Da," Anton answered.

Mia turned to Daria. "This entire meeting is off the record – though I want the recording in the archives labeled 'top secret.' I will personally enter the data on Anton in his personnel record. The record will show that he got into a fight with a prisoner and caused minor injuries to that prisoner."

Daria looked up from her tablet and in her total deadpan replied, "Yes, commander."

Looking at the others Mia stated, "Now we need to work out the details of their incarceration during the remainder of their time here and then their transfer to the MTV.

 _20.1_

Mia sat at her workstation in the command center. She had just gotten off of the radio with Captain Goodman – the MTV skipper. He was getting concerned because of how irregular this whole mission had been. First, at Mia's request, he had actually entered orbit. This was a maneuver he could do with his allocated fuel. Mission planners had always anticipated that there could be delays requiring the MTV to enter and then exit Martian orbit. Being in orbit did not use much fuel, but it did use consumable oxygen and food. On top of that, waiting like this increased his transit time back to Earth, thus requiring more oxygen, food, and other consumables. He had told Mia that he would need to leave in 72 hours with or without his cargo and passengers.

Mia had not yet told him that he would have six passengers he was not expecting and that they would have to be kept under guard. There was serious danger to his mission if he ignored their crimes. On top of that down here they had to load an extra shuttle pod with food and oxygen so that the MTV would have enough consumables to take back the extra passengers. They were also sending additional fuel, since there was not only more mass to transport, but some was being consumed in orbit and the homeward journey would be longer than expected. Nothing was simple. Tomorrow the fabricators were due to have the fuel transfer units completed and tested.

Right now it looked like it would be about 48-60 hours before they could send the supplies and people to the MTV. 60 hours is what she had told Captain Chapman. She knew and dreaded that when he reported this to Houston she would be getting a call. Houston would want to know details about the delay.

 _20.2_

Daria once again found herself at the conference table recording a meeting. She was starting to feel like her role was to be a secretary not an archivist and librarian. For a few moments her mind started to wander back to the English Department at Lawndale State University.

It astonished her that for her entire career at the university Brittany Taylor was the department secretary. Had Daria stayed she would be walking in as usual in the morning and hearing Brittany's mindless prattle about whatever popped into her otherwise empty head. It had changed over the years. Daria had lived through Brittany's second and third romances, marriages, and subsequent divorces. She could really pick 'em! All of her husbands had 'abuse' as their middle names. They all had 'womanizer' as their first names. Poor Brittany. These guys were abusers, but they were well-to-do abusers and Brittany's lawyers made sure they paid up. At least her three children loved her – maybe pitied their poor mother – and kept an eye on her. Fortunately, she had gotten good settlements out of all three of her ex-husbands. Her father, before he died, helped set up a trust to hold the money. He had set up a trust for her inheritance from him as well. That way Brittany wouldn't blow all the money she received. Once his health had started to decline Ashley Amber had divorced him and cashed in on the pre-nuptial agreement she had with him. She figured that if his declining health used up the entire estate, then she at least had her share. Daria thought that she herself was just old fashioned. Daria believed in honoring her commitments.

Just before all of this conflagration on Mars began, Daria had received a short video from Brittany. In the closeup view Daria could see how the nearly perfect skin and blond hair of Brittany's youth had given way to fine lines, crow's feet, and gray hair. To be truthful, however, Brittany was a really good looking 62 year old woman. Her hair even still had that 'bouncy bounce.' Most women her age would kill to look like that. Daria guessed that some things didn't change. They just shifted. Anyway, Brittany was retiring from the university at the end of the academic year and planned to move to Florida. Daria had responded wishing her well. Their lives had taken such different paths.

Daria refocused on the meeting just as Mia was calling the group to order. Fabrication reported that the shuttle capsules, oxygen tank, and fuel transfer pod were completed. Those would be ready for launch to the MTV as soon as loading was done. Operations reported that the oxygen tank was pressurized and the fuel was being pumped into the fuel transfer pod. Agriculture reported that the food had been gathered and processed for transport. They had already packed one of the shuttle capsules with food and would complete the other in a couple of hours. Launch control was ready to launch. That left only getting the 6 prisoners ready for transfer.

"What about restraints for the prisoners?" Mia asked.

Erwin reported, "I have to thank fabrication for their excellent work. They designed, cast, and finished the restraints in very little time. Their workmanship is excellent as well. What we have is a pair of handcuffs that mount between the spacesuit sleeve and glove. A similar leg shackle fits between the legs and boots. They mount and lock on the normal mountings, so there is no squeezing of the suit material. The locking mechanism is such that it requires two hands to remove the gloves and boots, and then the restraints. They cannot remove them themselves and there is insufficient space for removal inside the shuttle capsule. This took some ingenuity, since the Chinese space suits are different in design from the ones we use. I think that they are as secure as we can make them in this environment."

Mia responded simply, "Thank you Erwin. Now I want to start launching units as soon as possible. If we have the oxygen and one of the food capsules filled, then I want Launch Control to set the timing up with the MTV. We have at most 30 hours left before they must depart. I would like to see this total operation completed in 24 hours. Are we all clear?"

The group around the table answered in unison, "Yes Commander."

Mia stood up, thanked the group, and then left the room. The others stood and filed out. Daria checked her recording and then left the room herself.

 _20.3_

Daria was getting very tired. In the 12 hours since the meeting in the conference room Mars had launched its first payload into space using the launch rail – essentially a mass driver. The air was so thin that friction was not a problem and any heat generated dissipated quickly as each craft rose into orbit. It was exciting watching the rapid acceleration down the rail and then the craft taking flight at the upraised end that seemingly pointed at the sky. Daria thought to herself that maybe she should write at least a poem about that and maybe even a book of poetry about her time on Mars.

Now they were down to the humans. Despite all that was going on, they finally had a welcome party for the 6 new Martians who would be staying. In many ways it was too bad that they had to send the 6 Chinese back. It would have been nice to have the extra hands to do work. Still, it was better to send back 6 of Earth's most wanted war criminals than to have them here causing trouble. One of the women, Cuifen He, or He Cuifen if you place the surname first, was specifically trained in agitation. That was the last thing this colony needed. Of course their mission to take over the colony and turn it into what amounted to a slave labor camp was beyond unacceptable. Daria was glad none of her fellow Martians was rotating back to Earth this time, otherwise they would have had to travel with this bunch.

One by one the six taikonauts were led from their cells to the shuttle capsule. It had taken two hours to get each one dressed and properly fitted into their spacesuits and restrained. They had the handcuffs and shackles in place. Further there was a chain around their waists with additional chains linking it to the handcuffs and leg shackles. There was no way for these people to threaten Martians or crew members of the MTV.

Finally, the shuttle capsule was secured, and transported to the launch rail, where it was mounted with the assistance of a crane.

Daria watched as Mia called the MTV.

"Captain Goodman, this is Commander Ramirez. We are ready to launch the personnel shuttle. Are you ready to receive?"

"We are ready to receive. Launch your shuttle in 60 seconds."

A minute later Daria watched on the large screen as the shuttle capsule started down the launch rail, rapidly gained speed, and flew off of the end into the sky. In about 70 minutes it would dock with the MTV. She truly hoped that this was the end of this long ordeal. Somehow, though, she had a hunch there would be more to it than just this.

"Captain, now I need to discuss something with you on the private channel."

"Certainly. I am turning operational communication over to my first officer."

"Roger. I am turning over operational communication to my operations officer."

Mia got up from the primary communications console and walked over to her desk. Guessing that this was going to be a key conversation, Daria followed with her recorder.

"Captain are you there?" Mia asked over her communications unit.

"Yes Commander. What did you want to discuss."

"We need to discuss the six people I am sending to you today."

"What about them?" the Captain asked.

"You will find that we are sending them to you in restraints. It turns out that the attack on the colony was by the Chinese and they then sent six wanted war criminals to take over the colony. We arrested them upon arrival here, interrogated them, and are now deporting them back to Earth. When you arrive back at Earth, no matter what Houston says, you need to set their landing shuttle to arrive in Europe. There they will be arrested and taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for prosecution."

"You are asking quite a bit Commander." The MTV Captain replied. "First, I was not expecting to take anyone back this trip – though thank you for the provisions and the fuel. Secondly, the scheduled landing is supposed to be in the Mexican desert. Europe is a big change. Third, if these people are as dangerous as you say, then how am I supposed to confine them? You remember your transit on the MTV. There is not much space and I do not have a proper brig. Not to mention that if I confine them then the work will all fall on my crew."

"I'm sorry to spring this on you now, but this is what is necessary. I didn't ask to receive these people either. If you do not keep them confined, then by the time you return to Earth I will bet that they will be running your ship. You will likely be the one clapped in irons in the brig. For your convenience we have included handcuffs and leg irons for use without a spacesuit in the second supply shuttle pod. "

"OK."

"My suggestion is that you keep them in their spacesuits when they arrive for at least the following couple of hours. Once you have achieved trans-Earth injection, then have your crew weld panels with barred doors on each end of one hall of transit bedrooms. You can keep the doors barred and even have a slot for passing meals to them and trash out."

"I will consider it. MTV out."

 _20.4_

It was 8 hours later when the MTV finally left Martian orbit and headed back to Earth. By now Daria was so tired she could hardly see. Everyone in the command center and herself had been awake for nearly 48 hours straight. The MTV would not return for at least a year to 18 months. Maybe things could get back to something approaching normal. Maybe.

"Well Daria," Mia said. "Now it will be time to get some sleep and recuperate a bit. No one on Earth can do anything for a year or more, so we can get some rest. What do you say?"

Daria gave Mia a half smile and replied, "I'm with you. I will have plenty of time to go over all of this recorded material. Right now I just want to get some sleep."

"Good. Take tomorrow off. In fact, I think I will declare a holiday and we can all get some sorely needed rest. I will see you later!"

"Bye," Daria said. She turned around and walked out of the Command Center. After stopping by the Library to drop off her recordings she headed for her quarters. Seeing that Tom was not there she just dropped onto the bed. Sleep came immediately.

* * *

 _A note to my readers: For whatever reason during the course of posting this story Fanfiction_ _has stopped accepting multi-character lines of special characters as breaks within the stories. Now the only way that I seem to be able to indicate a break is by using sub-chapter numbers. My apologies. If someone has a solution to this problem so that I can go back to just using a series of dashes, '-', then please PM me with your solution. Thank you again for reading my story. - dmsfanman_


	21. Chapter 21:Out and About

**Chapter 21: Out and About**

Daria sat looking out the window of the rover. Her mind wandered momentarily back to when she was a child. She and her sister Quinn would ride to school in the back of her father's Lexus. Sometimes she would ride in the back of her mother's Blazer. Not all of the memories were pleasant, though many were. In some ways she missed Quinn's mindless prattle. Even as a mature adult Quinn was a woman who could go on endlessly about nearly anything. And to think it was professors who were accused of being able to talk for 55 minutes on any subject! Still, it seemed so long ago and it was literally a world away. Now they traversed a beautiful but seemingly endless desert devoid of life and indeed hostile to it.

This trip was the first major test for the new rover vehicle. The entire thing had been designed, printed, and assembled on Mars. This was another major step to being independent from resupply from Earth. With the last delivery they were now self-sufficient in food, power, and equipment. There were still a few materials – mainly refined and powdered metals plus some plastics – for the industrial printers that had to come from Earth. As the colony expanded they would need additional things, but for the current 120 people it was, at least in theory, possible to live without resupply.

An amazing feat was that the design for this rover did not rely on solar power! Indeed, some good had come from the conflict with the Groundforce robots six months ago. The new rover had essentially unlimited range. It was powered by two miniature Thorium reactors. Each reactor was about the size of what Daria's parents would have called a 'lantern battery.' Two of these miniature reactors could power a rover with ample energy to spare! This and the availability of metals and non-metals from the defeated robots had prompted development of the new rover design.

Looking around inside, Daria was glad that this 9 meter (30 ft) long rover had more comfortable seating, more storage, a better restroom, eating area, and bunks, as well as improved lab space. It could also be converted quickly for defense. There was a mount on the top for a gun and software to control it. It could even be fit with a blade and used as a bulldozer. In fact, its early use was in building some of the earthwork fortifications which now surrounded the colony. The inside joke among the Martians was that they had gone from living in a château to living in a castle. Houston didn't even know that they had this vehicle.

Staring out the window Daria watched the desert pass by. Over the past three-and-a-half years she had come to appreciate its beauty. Living nearly all her life in the Northeast United States she was used to green grass, trees, lakes, and mountains. The only areas of desolation there were parts of inner cities which formed treeless, grassless concrete jungles where the only green was from weeds growing in the cracked and heaved sidewalks. There she found no beauty – only ugliness and desperation.

Daria remembered the trip their family had taken to the Southwest United States to see the desert. She, Tom, and the three children had flown to Phoenix and rented a van. It was summer and the day they landed the temperature was 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees F). Thankfully, the rental company had their vehicles in one of the airport garages! It kept the interior from being an oven. They had stayed in a hotel that night and early the next day drove out into the Arizona desert. They planned to see some national parks on the trip and even a ghost town.

The scenery in the American desert was certainly different than where they lived. There was no green grass outside of the city and no forest. Yet, there was life. The saguaro cactus, prickly pear cactus, tumbleweeds, and other scrub plants. There was wildlife. They saw a roadrunner. Surely a coyote was around somewhere! There were lizards, snakes, and insects. So, life was different in the desert. Yet, there was still life there even if it wasn't as verdant as home. Mars was different. It was a desert devoid of life. When you got close to it you could appreciate the many colors and shapes in this alien place. Some might call it ugly due to the lack of life. Daria, however, appreciated its beauty. In a way it had become home.

Daria was shaken from her thoughts when she realized that Julie was talking to her. A week with Julie the geologist and her husband Ian, also a geologist, had not been on the top of Daria's list of exciting trips. Still, the mission was to investigate a horizontal lava tube discovered by the World Walker. It was nearly 1000 km (620 miles) away. They had extra provisions. One of the advantages of the new rover was that there was sufficient power so that it could produce its own air and water. This meant that the only real limiting factor for a mission was the amount of food they could carry!

"I don't know, Daria," Julie remarked. "I expected to see more variation in the strata of those hills. It may be that we have the theory on their formation all wrong."

Ian commented, "I'm not so sure. I think the wear patterns indicate water flow and erosion, though I admit it could be other causes as well. Maybe we have multiple forces attacking the rock."

Daria deadpanned, "You know this is not my field. I really can't be of much help on erosion patterns. Though I have to admit to being interested in seeing the inside of this horizontal lava tube to compare it to what the inside of our colony's vertical lava tube looks like. I am hoping the floor is at least mostly smooth and level given what we are carrying."

They had a second mission as well. Stowed on top of the vehicle was an inflatable habitat module. It had more space than a hooch, but was supposed to be easier to erect and use. It could even be broken down and relocated. The unit was an advanced version of a design that had been around for about 40 or so years. It had arrived with the most recent supplies. They would be installing it, preferably inside the lava tube.

Daria went back to looking out the window and thinking about recent events. She and Tom had received and responded to videos from each of the kids over the past week. It was nice to see the grandchildren. They had grown so much in just over a month! They explained to each that they would be returning to Earth at the end of their current contract on Mars. They both liked Mars, but it was too far away from family to stay for another five years. They had also told them about this little expedition to the lava tube. This was universally the point that they lost the grandchildren. For some reason these kids were not excited about geology and portable habitats. Jane was much the same way. Well, Daria did not want to sound like Julie.

 _21.2_

It was late when they stopped for the night. Each one of them had driven the vehicle for four hours that day. This was a new record as well. They had driven over 600 km! (372 mi) This was thanks in large part to following the known path of the World Walker and the unending power from the thorium reactors. Every rock and boulder was well documented and they had been able to follow a path which avoided difficult objects and geological features. Daria thought that it wasn't quite a road, but maybe it would at least count as a blazed trail!

Dinner was beef beef stroganoff and green beans. There was a salad and dressing to go with it as well as apple pie for dessert. Daria's mind wandered as the dinner conversation was mostly Tom and Ian talking about how to deploy the inflatable habitat. She thought about how far Martian agriculture had come just since they had arrived. The reason that they had the beef is that the meat growth vats grew it. Mars now grew New York strip steak, chicken breast, salmon, shark, and sea bass. Vegetables, fruits, and grains all grew under the agriculture domes – the first use of inflatable structures on Mars. Now they even had their own "food vault," which kept seeds, roots, meat samples, and even earthworms and soil bacteria safe from any radiation or other event that might wipe our their food supply. In such an event they could restart their systems and be eating their first new food in about three months. The Mars colony now kept food reserves as well to hedge against just such an event.

After dinner and doing the dishes it was time to go to bed. Daria and Tom took the bunks above the cab. Ian and Julie took the bunks above and across from the dinette. Sleep came quickly and they had planned a full 8 hour sleep period.

 _21.3_

It was about noon when Ian shouted out, "Look, Herman is over there!"

The startling sound of his shout just about made Daria jump out of her skin! So much for reviewing archivable materials from yesterday.

"He seems to be signaling us that he wants to communicate over the radio," Ian said with great excitement.

Tom switched the radio from the base frequency to Herman's. That is when they heard, "I have found the indicated cave. Come in my direction and I can assist you with backing into it so that you can deploy the shelter. No danger detected."

Daria used the external camera to take a photograph of Herman. Herman was the result of much intensive work over the last six months. This was his first time out on his own. Herman was basically a modified Groundfighter robot. The Fabrication Department and the Exploration Department had brought up the idea. They wanted to take parts from the dozen destroyed Groundfighter robots and build one which could assist in the colony's exploration mission. In other words, one which would be constructive not destructive. The Fabrication Department believed that they could do the job of building such a robot.

The easy part of the job was building the robot's structure. They started with the limbs. First they had to fabricate hands which would replace the weapons that the Groundfighters had carried. Then they had to run the wiring up to the shoulder and construct the movement hardware for the hands and joints. Likewise, they had to put a pair of legs together that could be used for walking. All of these connected into the torso, which housed the power source and computers.

The torso was a story unto itself. No Groundfighter had avoided damage to its torso. In order to take down the robots, defenders' shells had had to penetrate the torso and knock out the computers. Thus, all torsos had holes and the computers inside had sustained massive damage. The best torso had six holes in it. The fabricators had taken pieces of torsos without holes in those specific spots, cut out replacement sections, and then welded them to Herman's torso. Finally, the welds were all ground down and the torso painted with yellow reflective paint. Herman's power source was a thorium reactor taken from one of the other Groundfighters. A "bubble" on top of one torso was also salvaged and reconstructed – another difficult task given that all were severely damaged. Sensors were fabricated, reinstalled and retuned for exploratory rather than military missions.

The really hard part of the project was building the computers capable of controlling Herman. Every electronic component going into Herman which was salvaged from another Groundforce robot had to be carefully checked. Clearly, the colony did not want a device which might have a buried program to reload and execute its original programming! In the course of examining the components such routines were found in two different and unrelated components! Everything had to be totally wiped clean and reprogrammed. A new central processor had to be fabricated as well, because that was where one of the reset routines was hidden in the hardware. A new motherboard was needed, since all of the others had been destroyed during the battle. Herman was completed after 18 weeks of hard work. Daria was just glad she just did some of the welding and didn't have to do any of his programming!

Tom maneuvered the rover so that the rear was centered on the cave entrance. Herman had gone inside of the cave – really a lava tube – and then linked his sensors to the rover. Once Tom had the rover in place Herman took over and backed the vehicle into the cave. This ensured that none of the external hardware on the rover came into contact with the walls or any objects in the care. Herman did a perfect job of parking and the rover was in the proper position to unload and install the inflatable habitat unit.

"OK everyone," Tom ordered. "Get your surface suits on and lets get out and get this habitat unit put together. Once that is done we can call it a day, have dinner, and then get a good night's sleep!"

Compared to building a hooch, the inflatable habitat was a breeze to put together. It took about an hour to unload the unit from the top of the rover. Then about another two hours to have it up, sealed, and pressurized. Finally, an hour was required to move the equipment in that would make it run like a hooch. A total of four hours as opposed to several days. Tomorrow they would install the equipment and then they could move out of the rover.

Daria thought that if this inflatable unit was really a viable alternative, then Mars had a new design for satellite habitats! The direct seal with the rover's airlock was especially useful. They could easily go back and forth in a shirtsleeve environment. The habitat's main airlock faced back into the cave. There was also sufficient room to go around both the rover and the habitat.

Once all of the work was done Tom stated, "Now we can remove our helmets and surface suits. I am sure everyone could use a restroom break. Also dump any waste in your suits so that they are ready to go. After that let's have some dinner!"

It wasn't long before everyone had themselves and their suits all set. Daria and Ian began making dinner while Tom and Julie each took care of other responsibilities. Tom instructed Herman to explore the lava tube overnight and report back by 8:00 am the next morning. Herman was to make a detailed 3-D map of the system up to 2 km (1.2 miles) from the opening. Tom wanted to take a virtual reality tour of the cave before they spent any human time exploring it. Tom ordered Herman not to endanger himself in any way and he was to use waymarkers every 100 meters so that if he somehow broke down the others could retrieve him by following the markers.

Julie spent the time before dinner cataloging images taken of the rock formations they had seen during today's driving. There were some very distinct differences between this volcanic landscape and the one where their base was located. What was particularly interesting was the number of large square and rectangular formations that were seemingly hollow. They had passed close to a square one and detoured over to it. She and Ian had taken an hour to catalog the object. The inside was quite smooth and there were definitely at least two tubes radiating sideways from the bottom. They would clearly spend considerable time trying to understand how volcanism and possibly wind erosion had created such features!

Finally, the explorers sat down to a near miracle out in the bush like this – a cooked dinner! Daria and Ian had prepared pork loin medallions with brown and wild rice, a fruit sauce, and fresh asparagus. Hot tea was served with the meal and dessert was white cake with lemon frosting. (They had brought the cake with them rather than cooking it on-site.) The four sat, ate, and talked about their experiences since the Martian New Year.

It was actually rather late – nearly midnight – when Tom stood up and stated, "Well, we all should get some sleep. We have work to do in the morning and we should be fresh. Let's get to bed!


	22. Chapter 22: Spelunking

**Chapter 22:** **Spelunking**

Daria looked out the rover window. It occurred to her that this was not all that useful an action. They were in a cave (or more precisely a lava tube) after all! Still, there was some light filtering in from the mouth of the cave and she could see Herman standing next to the rover. He was back from exploring the lava tube. Today would mostly be filled with setting up equipment and furnishings inside the habitat. Then maybe they would do some exploring deeper in the lava tube. Julie and Ian were especially excited about collecting samples farther inside.

After last night's dinner, breakfast was pretty dull. They had granola bars and tea. It took all of 20 minutes and that included heating the water and steeping the tea. The next task was to don their surface suits. Even though the inflatable habitat showed no signs of leaking air, still they would work in their surface suits until everything was installed. This protected them just in case a leak started while they were moving equipment. Since they were attached to the rover they were able to carry only small emergency air tanks. There was a setting which allowed them to breath the air in the habitat and the suit would only switch to the tank if the air pressure started dropping. Tom briefly communicated with the colony to let them know that they successfully survived the night and what the plan was for the day. Finally it was time to get to work.

The morning was spent moving pieces of equipment, assembling things like beds, and installing plumbing. This was still going much faster than building any hooch! By lunchtime they were done. Once their work was completed they were able to remove their surface suits and just walk around in a decent sized shirtsleeve environment. It was a nice change.

As they finished their first lunch in the new habitat Tom said, "We should look at what Herman found wandering around the cave last night."

"Lava tube," Julie said.

"Really Julie," Ian stated. "You don't need to correct Tom."

Julie pleaded, "But we need to make certain our terminology is correct in all the records. Right Daria?"

Daria deadpanned, "I'm not getting drawn in on this! I am sure that future generations looking at the record of our conversations will be able to determine from the context that we use 'cave' to refer to this particular lava tube. It is properly recorded as a lava tube in the mission directive."

Tom chuckled, "OK. OK. I will try to remember to say lava tube rather than cave. Fundamentally Julie is right. Daria is right as well. Let's move on and see what Herman found. Ian and I set up the virtual reality room over there. Go have a seat and let's get started."

The four explorers settled into chairs in the virtual reality room of the habitat. They had 360 degrees of screens and put on VR goggles to see the inside of the cave just as Herman had seen it. Of course, Herman took pictures in multiple wavelengths of light and illuminated the cave in infrared and ultraviolet, as well as in visible light. He also used radar imaging to get additional detail. The data was all fused in what they would be viewing. The result was a walk through a dark cave in what looked like daylight. It was definitely better than wandering through the cave with just a bright light mounted to your forehead! They could proceed at any speed desired. They began at 10 meters (33 ft) per minute.

"Look!" Ian exclaimed with great excitement. "This lava tube has been here since Mars had running water. Look over there. That is a small stalagmite!"

"Amazing!" Julie responded hardly able to contain herself.

Clearly Ian and Julie knew what features interested them. When Tom zoomed in on the feature, Daria could see it. Still, to her the cave looked like a very smooth edged rock tunnel.

Over the next two hours there were four features cataloged for further investigation: the stalagmite, what may be an exposed vein of ore, a possible area where water had once pooled, and a branch in the tunnel where one side seemed to have a significant dropoff. Daria was glad that there was only about an hour of material remaining.

At about 1900 meters (6200 ft) into the lava tube Herman had entered a large room. While such rooms were common in caves produced by water, that was not so true of lava tubes. Not unheard of, however. Daria remembered Lava River Cave in Arizona. Spelunking in that cave was part of their training. They had used it to learn about lava tubes and it did have a large room.

All four stood and started looking around the room.

"Look at this!" Julie exclaimed. "The ceiling must be 50 meters high!" (165 ft)

Tom remarked, "This is impressive!"

Ian stated, "Note what looks like a lot of rubble on the ground, but the ceiling is so smooth! Where did it all come from?"

Daria spoke up and in a tentative voice said, "Uh, you might want to come over here and have a look at this. This does not look natural."

The other three joined Daria and looked at a feature across the room. It appeared to be four large smooth rectangles that stood next to each other. They looked like they had been carved out of the wall of the cave. There also appeared to be something on them.

Tom ordered the projection system to zoom in on the feature. Unfortunately, it was not clear. Still, it looked like there were regular inscribed lines on it. The room was just at the end of Herman's path.

Daria stated emphatically, "We need to go and see this ourselves. This could be a major discovery."

Ian turned to her and said, "You realize it may be nothing. It looks like something, but since we do not have a close-up view it could be the angle we are seeing it."

"I understand," Daria said. "But we need to go and see it."

Julie turned to Ian and said, "We need to go and see it sweetie. Now."

Tom had to contain himself from bursting out laughing. The tone of voice that Julie used with Ian when she called him 'sweetie' was exactly the same as the tone Daria used whenever she called him 'dear.' Tom knew that in that case surrender was the only option. Besides, whatever this was needed to be investigated and recorded. No one was saying what they all were thinking – aliens.

 _22.2_

Everyone was assembled just outside the airlock at the back of the habitat. They were all wearing their surface suits. They were expecting a 6 hour expedition into the recesses of the lava tube. They each carried 8 hours of air. Herman carried two extra tanks that could be used to partially refill the humans' tanks if the time was longer. Also, Herman would be leading the way and providing light sufficient to light the way. Each person also had lights, just in case Herman had a failure.

They started off. The ground was smooth initially and it was like strolling through a tourist cave. They stopped briefly at the stalagmite so that Ian could take some additional pictures and sample rock on the ground. At the ore vein Julie took a small rock sample. Again it was a brief stop. More photos and samples were taken at the possible water pool and point where the tunnels branched.

It was about 200 meters (660 ft) from the great room that the floor of the cave started becoming rocky and passage was more difficult. Everyone stepped carefully and avoided what might be very sharp volcanic rock. It still took a full half-hour to cover the final distance to the great room.

With Herman standing in the middle of the room, the four explorers entered. It was breathtaking! A room like this would make an excellent place to put a large habitat. It would not take much to make the tunnel useful as a vehicle tunnel. Depending on the ability of the rock not to leak air, it would almost be possible to seal off the ends and directly pressurize the space without building an interior structure.

Daria stated, "Come on. Let's go have a look at those slabs." It had been years since Daria had been so excited. She would have liked to have broken out in a run, like a kid running for the ice cream truck. She knew that would not have been prudent. A fall could damage or puncture her surface suit and possibly injure her. Still, her adrenaline was pumping and her curiosity was peaked. She moved as fast as she could and was the first one to stand in front of the slabs. The others came up behind her.

 _22.3_

Daria stood and looked up at each of the four slabs. She really could not believe what she was seeing. Each of these slabs was filled with writing. The writing was neatly formed and very clear. It had certainly been inscribed to last for eons.

"Can you tell what it says?" Ian asked Daria.

"Well, the first slab is clearly Latin. My Latin isn't very good, but I think I can pick up a few words. The second slab is definitely Greek. The third is Chinese. The fourth looks like an American inscription. It might be Mayan."

"So what does this say?" Julie asked.

"Just a second," Daria replied as she tried to scrutinize the Latin inscription. Herman had the slab well illuminated. "It appears to be a salutation, something about 2000 years and a visit. It ends with something about a gift and a guest. That is the limit of my Latin. If I was going to take a guess, then I would guess that these other slabs contain the same text in their respective languages. Sort of like the Rosetta Stone."

Tom piped up with, "Let's get these texts recorded and take them back to the rover. We can access translation software there. We also need to decide how to break this discovery to everyone. Think about this: we need to speak with Mia and she needs to decide what we say and to whom. This is big. It basically says that aliens have visited at some point."

Everyone took their pictures and Herman made a detailed recording of the site. Then they started back. It was clearly going to be hard to sleep tonight.


	23. Chapter 23: Translation

**Chapter 23: Translation**

Tom had Mia on-screen over a highly encrypted channel. Everyone stood around the screen.

"So, first of all congratulations on your discovery. Second, thank you for contacting me over an encrypted channel. This is not something we want to broadcast immediately. Believe it or not, the mission planners for this colony actually wrote a 'First Contact Protocol' to follow. However, that assumes we are meeting aliens in person and not just finding artifacts. So, we are pretty much on our own to make this up as we go!" Everyone chuckled at Mia's humor, though they all knew that it was in fact the truth.

"I would like to bring Shamus out here," Daria stated. "He may be a chemist, but he is also an expert in Latin and Greek. He has published several papers about ancient civilizations. I guess that is what can happen when you are a chemistry professor at Notre Dame and a Jesuit priest as well."

Mia said, "I think that is a great idea. We also know he can keep a secret. Maybe I will tell him this is a confession!"

Tom chimed in, "We probably need some additional equipment as well. If indeed there is some kind of 'gift' here left by these aliens, then we need to be able to find it. If it is technology, then again we are going to have to make some decisions about disclosing what we have found."

With a serious look Mia said, "I absolutely agree. I still feel we can trust our own people, but I am not so confident about our colleagues back on Earth. We do not want another battle up here over what might be in that cave."

The four explorers all nodded their heads in affirmation of Mia's statement.

Mia went on, "OK, here is my plan. I will send Shamus first thing in the morning. Houston is aware of your mission. So, I will tell them that you found some possibly unique chemistry and he is needed to study it. I am also going to send day after tomorrow a pair of technicians with ground penetrating radar much stronger than what Herman has. They can help find any hidden spaces. All of this means that, Julie and Ian, you have a critical role. You two need to come up with plausible reasons and data to justify this extra work. This will keep Houston occupied and not asking uncomfortable questions about why we are deploying these people and equipment. Their closer scrutiny lately is driving me a little nuts, but there is little I can do. Mainly we need to keep them occupied with more mundane things. So, Tom you will coordinate and Daria you will work with Shamus when he arrives. Commander out."

Tom turned to the others and said, "We all now know what we are going to be doing. Let's eat some dinner and try to get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be a big day!"

 _23.2_

Tom stood outside of the cave as the copter approached. He mused about how with the 8 rotors the craft resembled the toy drones he and the kids had played with many years ago. Still, it was a very useful craft and this newest version could transport two people almost an unlimited distance if equipped with thorium reactors. Though air transport options were limited here on Mars, it was good that they at least had the option. There were simply times when you needed to get from point A to point B in a hurry.

The craft settled down on its landing legs and the cockpit opened. Out stepped a man who was somewhat taller than Tom and appeared to have a very solid build. He was wearing a surface suit, so Tom could not make out his face. He was carrying a small travel case.

Walking up to Tom, Shamus extended his hand and said, "Shamus Leary at your service."

Taking the man's hand and shaking it Tom replied, "Tom Sloane. Thank you for coming out Father."

Shamus chuckled and said, "Don't feel you need to call me Father Just call me Shamus. I am out here just like everyone else. I was told you need a chemist. If you need a priest, then I am not certain I brought the right equipment!"

"Good enough, Shamus," Tom responded. "I think you may have met my wife Daria already, but I am not sure you have met Ian and Julie our geologists."

"I don't think I have. You would think that in six months I would have met everyone, but I still find I am meeting new people every day! Let's get inside and talk about this job you have for me. I brought two changes of clothing and some additional reagents for chemical analysis."

Tom and Shamus walked into the cave and around the rover and habitat to the main airlock. They cycled in and once inside removed their surface suits. Tom then introduced Shamus to Ian and Julie. Daria brought out some snacks and they all started talking.

Shamus asked, "So what is this unique chemistry you want me to look at?"

Ian said matter-of-factly, "So Mia didn't give you details on this assignment?"

"No she didn't. She just said that I needed to get on a copter with a kit to look at some possibly unique chemicals in this old cave."

Daria jumped into the conversation, "Well, we didn't bring you here to look at chemistry."

Shamus eyes widened and with a puzzled look asked, "So why bring me here? There are plenty of others who could do various jobs here. Why me?

Daria sighed and said in total deadpan, "The following is classified Top Secret. None of this is to go beyond this group in any form except to Commander Ramirez. Understood?

Everyone acknowledged that they understood.

Daria went on, "Shamus, we need your expertise in Latin and Greek. We have found inscriptions which appear to be in those languages deep in the cave. We are the first humans from Earth to come here. Yet we have these inscriptions and we believe they are in Latin, Greek, and other languages. It is not much of a stretch to think that the inscriptions are alien in origin. There is no other explanation."

Shamus bit a piece off of the meat stick he was eating and thought for a moment as he chewed. He swallowed and barely audibly said, "Wow. That is potentially one of the most significant discoveries of all time!

"Which is precisely why this is all classified Top Secret," Daria deadpanned. Handing Shamus a thin tablet she added, "Here are images of the inscriptions. I think we are looking at Latin, Greek, Chinese, and Mayan."

Shamus zoomed in and began studying the texts very closely. It started 'Ad eos qui legunt hoc salvete. Tertius planeta a te veniet super nos quia in hoc ratio. Ab Andro Cythnum traiecerunt MM sidus gyros abround in hac planeta quartus atque excursum facit ad nos relinquens mundo...' Interesting, Shamus thought. The others sat and more or less stared at him as he read. The silence was deafening.

After about five long minutes Shamus said, "Well, I can say the following: first, it will take me a few hours to have a truly satisfying translation of the Latin and Greek texts. Second, I think that the two likely say the same thing. Third, I would date the word usage to around 1000 AD. So, that means the inscription is somewhere around 1000 years old. The Greek is clearly Byzantine, which is somewhat later than the Biblical or Koine Greek I know best. However, I think I can get a good translation."

Ian asked, "Why don't we just use a program to translate it?"

Shamus replied, "Well, even with all the years of development language translators have their limits. They still tend to be word-for-word translations and not capture subtle meanings. Also, any slang that might be in the phrase is likely not going to be recognized. As a result you may fail to catch the exact meaning. Software is good for a first pass, but you still need a person to interpret the meaning. That is why you see speeches at the United Nations today using such stilted language. The speeches are all written so that the software can correctly convey meanings. It is efficient, but you hardly get stirring rhetoric or subtle jabs in speeches anymore. You don't even hear a good joke there anymore."

Julie chimed in, "So what you are saying is that the software is still totally inadequate."

Shamus added, "Not totally. It is fine for material written with machine translation in mind. However, I would not use it to translate works by Faulkner, Solzhenitsyn, or Hesse."

Turning to Tom, Shamus stated, "So what I would like to do is first spend about three hours working on the Latin text. I should have a decent translation by then. After we discuss what is stated in there I want to go and see the actual inscriptions. We can take some samples from the engravings in the rock. This may give us some corroboration on the timeframe of the inscription, assuming that rock here develops a patina as it does on Earth." Then he looked at Ian and Julie, "That is where you two come in. I need to know if patinas develop here and at what rate. I can then analyze the samples we take and hopefully determine age of the inscription."

Julie said, "Ian and I will get right onto it."

Smiling, Shamus turned to Daria, "I am not leaving you out, Daria. I will give you a list of books I need downloaded from the Library. Since I did not know the nature of the mission, I did not bring anything along to support me in translation. Can you do that?"

"That won't be a problem," Daria stated matter-of-factly. "I can access the full library from here as long as I have a strong computer link." Looking at Tom she added, "It will need to be heavily encrypted. Otherwise we risk prying eyes."

"I'll make that happen," Tom said.

"Good. Now if I can have a quiet place to work I will get started," Shamus said.

 _23.3_

At the end of three hours Shamus went to find Daria. The others were outside working on their various tasks. He found her in the rover cataloging images.

Shamus cleared his throat and said, "Daria, I think I have a translation of the Latin text. Thanks again for getting those books for me."

"No problem," she replied.

Sitting down across from her he began, "So here is what we have. I have a translation of the Latin text and looking over the Greek text I am certain it is the same. Therefore, I am going to conclude that the Chinese and Mayan texts are the same as well. Scholars back on Earth could possibly use this as a 'Rosetta Stone' for the Mayan writing."

"That sounds really exciting," Daria exclaimed. There was even a touch of true excitement in her voice. "So, what does it say?"

Shamus showed Daria his tablet and the she looked wondrously at the words in front of her. "First is the more literal translation of the text."

"To those who read this greetings. We assume that you come from the third planet in this system. After spending 2000 rotations around the star on this fourth planet and making excursions to your world we are leaving. Perhaps in a few thousand rotations we will visit again. In that time we pray that you will have learned to work together to create, explore, and do those things which will move you forward as a species. Upon our visits and even occasional attempts to set up a small village we have been amazed at your ability to work collectively to destroy us and each other. We were appalled and still remember those of us who were eaten by you. We are saddened to see budding civilizations crumble under mass brutality. We can only imagine what may happen as you gain technology. Hopefully you will not be the instruments of your own extinction. You have too much potential and could bring so much to a universe that often lacks the art, imagination, and cultural innovations of your species. With some good makeup we are able to walk among you and you could walk among us undetected. We leave you praying that you will overcome what seems to be part of your nature. In order to come to this place we are assuming that you have advanced enough socially that we can reveal some secrets to you. Thus, we leave you gifts and an invitation to come and visit us."

As she looked up Shamus took the tablet and said "So, now here is the translation with more of a feeling of meaning:"

"To those who read this greetings! We assume that you come from Earth. After spending 3500 Earth years here on Mars and making excursions to your world we are leaving. Perhaps in a few thousand years we will visit again. In that time we pray that you will have learned to work together to create, explore, and do those things which will move humanity forward [together]. Upon our visits and even occasional attempts to set up a small village [on Earth] we have been amazed at your ability to work collectively to destroy us and each other. We were appalled and still remember those of us who were eaten by humans. We are saddened to see budding civilizations crumble under mass brutality. We can only imagine what may happen as you gain technology. Hopefully you will not be the instruments of your own extinction. You have too much potential and could bring so much to a universe that often lacks the art, imagination, and cultural innovations of your species. With some good makeup we are able to walk among you and you could walk among us undetected. We leave you praying that you will overcome what seems to be part of your nature. In order to come to this place we are assuming that you have advanced enough socially that we can reveal some secrets to you. Thus, we leave you gifts and an invitation to come and visit us."

"Wow," was all that Daria could say.

Shamus looked at her and almost whispered, "You realize that this means that there is a hidden chamber or some place where the 'gifts' and other information are being stored!"

"Wow," was the only way Daria could think of responding. They were now at a point where they not only had alien inscriptions in hand, but there might be alien technology here as well.


	24. Chapter 24: Treasure Hunt

**Chapter 24: Treasure Hunt**

Daria sat in the rover at her workstation. She was counting the number of people who knew about the inscriptions. There were the four in the mission that first found them. Then there was Shamus. Now there was another person and Mia. That was 7 total. The security of information was a function of the inverse of the number of people who know it. That is why keeping secrets is so hard. Here they had gone from ¼ to 1/5 to now 1/7. Before this was done she was certain that it would be 1/10. That meant a drop from 25% to 10%. At some point there could easily be a leak – purposeful or not.

The existence of an alien inscription and possibly more than that was certainly something out of science fiction. The myriad of questions relating to the effects of releasing the information alone were staggering. Until they knew the extent of what they were dealing with not even the members of the Martian Council had been informed. Mia was holding this information very tightly. There were not just scientific ramifications to this. There were potentially political, economic, and even religious aspects. A war on Mars over possession of any alien technology was a real possibility as well. 'So,' mused Daria. 'Here sits the retired English professor at the very epicenter of this. I hope it is worth the trouble!'

Tom's voice broke her reverie. "Come on and put on your suit!

"I'm coming," Daria called out. She got up from her workstation and started putting on her surface suit. About half-way through the process she paused for a moment and just looked at the garment. Going through her mind was how this instrumented piece of equipment was the difference for her between life and death. So far, other than the alien inscriptions and themselves, there was no solid evidence that life existed on Mars. Only with these suits was it possible to explore and be outside of a pressurized vessel – whether a rover or habitat. Was it really being outside? Afterall this suit was itself a pressure vessel without which her blood would boil and she would die a quick, but rather horrible, death. A moment's reflection quickly gave way to finishing the task at hand. Daria headed for the airlock.

 _24.2_

Herman led the way through the cave. His lighting system made the space as bright as day. His internal mapping system also guaranteed that they would not take a wrong turn. They made steady progress.

In a wide area about 50 meters (165 ft) long Daria called, "Stop. Look over there." Daria pointed off to the left where there was clearly some kind of object laying among several rocks. "I'm going to check it out. It does not look like a natural shape." Daria started toward the object. As Daria got close to it Julie turned and started walking in that direction as well.

Julie screamed. Everyone turned toward her. Tom asked in an almost breathless voice, "What is it?"

"Daria just disappeared!" Julie shrieked.

"What?" Tom said.

"She was just there and disappeared!"

Tom turned to Herman. "Go over there and shine your lights at high intensity over the area. We will follow."

Herman covered the distance in what seemed like two strides. The humans took a few more than that. Herman used his lighting system to brightly illuminate the area. The good news was that Daria had not disappeared. The bad news was that there was a very large hole right by the the object.

"Shine your light down this hole," Tom ordered Herman. The robot complied.

Tom's adrenaline was running hard. He knew that Daria could be injured or worse. The car accident she was in 30 some years ago flooded back into his mind. He was actively forcing himself not to panic. Shamus came up by his side. Together they leaned over the hole and looked down. There they could see Daria lying motionless on her back on top of a pile of rubble. Dust filtering down on top of her.

"Daria, are you OK?" Tom yelled into his microphone. There was a pause.

"Damn," Daria deadpanned. "Just when things get interesting you get hit by a truck. Anybody get the license number? I am going to have one heck of a backache tomorrow. A fall like this isn't good for my arthritis either. I'm probably bruised too. I predict a handful of painkillers in my future. Do we have any Martian Moonshine with us as well? I might just take it straight!"

Tom knew in that moment that Daria was fundamentally OK. If she could be sarcastic, then all was not lost. He said over the radio, "Who has the climbing rope? We need to go down there and get her."

"Bring a suit patch with you," Daria replied. "My status board is showing a breach in my right calf, but I am not losing air. So, there must be a piece of something stuck in there that made the hole and is plugging it as well."

Before anyone could move, Shamus clamored to the edge of the hole and jumped in. He landed on his feet and walked over to Daria. Herman's illumination made it easy to see the area around her. He quickly pulled out a suit patch from his emergency kit, rolled Daria over, removed a small stone from her suit, wiped the area, and administered the patch.

"Thanks," Daria said. "But that wasn't the smartest thing to do to jump down here."

Shamus chuckled and replied, "Well, I haven't been here that long and I have been doing my exercises. So, my bones haven't lost much strength. I am still pretty much as I was when I left Earth. Under this light gravity that was really not much of a jump." Shamus extended his hand to help Daria to her feet.

"Thank you Father," Daria replied as she got up. "It was still a hell of a fall!" Absent mindedly brushing dust from her surface suit Daria remarked, "As for this old body I am just glad my suit detected the fall and inflated the air sacks. That helped break the fall for me. My head didn't even hit the side of my helmet."

Shamus smiled at her and stated, "The fact that you are alright is what is important. I will add a prayer of thanksgiving for that tonight! Now look. Tom is just down on the rope and Julie is following."

The moment Tom was down he ran over to Daria and hugged her. A few tears stung his eyes. He just could not help himself. His wife was simply too precious to him.

"Easy Tiger," Daria deadpanned. "I am just fine. Maybe a little bruised, but there is no need to crush me. Of course that is nearly impossible in these surface suits. I love you too. Now let's get back to exploring!"

Tom released Daria and looked around. While the two had had their moment the others had pulled out their flashlights and started looking around. Daria had seemingly fallen through a roof and onto a floor. They were not in some natural tube. In fact, it seemed to be a wide corridor,

"Everybody move away from the hole," Tom ordered. When they complied he said, "Herman, come down here."

Herman jumped into the hole and landed in the midst of the group. With all of his lighting system it was now very clear that they were in a large corridor and not a natural feature. There was even what appeared to be writing on the walls, though it was not decipherable.

Herman led the group down the corner while providing light all along the way. He kept a very reasonable pace. At various points someone in the group asked to stop and they briefly looked at pictures or other inscriptions. Herman was recording all of this for later playback and analysis.

As they walked along there were a few doors into the corridor. Herman opened the doors and the group peered in. One room looked like it held bunks. Another appeared to be a meeting room. All of them were surprised that the apparent uses of these rooms seemed quite obvious. The furnishings seemed like they were about 7/8ths scale, i.e., smaller than a normal modern human would be comfortable using. Daria, for example, could reasonably sit in one of the chairs. Shamus on the other hand was simply too big to be comfortable in any of the furnishings. In many ways the rooms looked like they had simply been left with the occupants expecting to return very soon. Clearly that was not the case!

For some strange reason, Daria could not get asparagus out of her mind. As she walked along and peered into the rooms her mind wandered back to the agricultural domes, where she had seen the technicians cultivating asparagus. There were mounds made from Martian soil fortified with humus and fertilizer produced right there in the colony. The stalks were fat and tender. When cooked for a dinner they were absolutely marvelous! The margarine they used in the kitchen gave the spears a buttery flavor that was really good and the cooks knew how to prepare them so that they were soft, but still had a little crunch to them. Daria was starting to think that maybe she had hit her head in the fall. Of all the silly things to think about while making one of the most important discoveries in human history, a vegetable was certainly quite silly. She tried to focus her mind on the things at hand.

 _24.3_

After about an hour of walking and exploring, Herman led them into a very larger room. Perhaps this was the nerve center of the complex. Herman adjusted his lighting to make everything visible.

"Wow. Look at this place!" Julie exclaimed.

Looking around Ian commented, "These panels look like they could be displays. They may even be interactive displays. I don't see much that looks like it is a control knob or switch around here."

Daria looked around. The ceiling was a dome. The circle of the dome was inscribed within the square of the room. It was an interesting geometry. She estimated that the dome was about five meters (16.5 fit) high in the center. The walls of the room were about three meters (10 ft) high. It was a vast open space.

After about 20 minutes Shamus called out, "Everyone come over here. I think I have found something! It looks like a button to activate something."

Everyone walked over to Shamus' position along the north wall. There inscribed in the four languages they had seen on the panels was a message. Below each message was a button. Shamus commented, "It says here in Latin: Cherished visitors. Please press the button below."

Shamus reached out and pressed the button before anyone could say anything.


	25. Chapter 25: Message From the Past

**Chapter 25: Message from the Past**

A door came down over the entrance to the room. It was immediately accompanied by a 'whooshing' sound that everyone could hear. When it stopped Tom turned to Herman and said, "What was that sound? Report."

Herman stated over the radio, "The sound was pressurization of this room. There is now a fully breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere here that is approximately the same pressure as at sea level on Earth."

"Are there any signs of pathogens in the air?" Tom inquired.

"None," Herman responded.

Everyone looked at each other and started removing their helmets. Daria thought that it was nice to be out of at least the helmet of her surface suit. Now she could at least scratch her nose!

The lights in the room came on and then dimmed. A shimmering column of light appeared along the west wall. An image appeared of a being. This being looked much like a human, except for some notable differences. It wore a white Roman toga. The toga was clearly made of a fine material and Daria guessed it was of a style which might be worn by a Roman senator.

The being's skin tone was best described as the bluish, grayish color of someone who has had too much colloidal silver. Lips were quite red. There appeared to be no facial hair, though there was what appeared to be very fine hair on the being's head. If this image was life-sized, then they were a bit shorter than the average human, stocky, and their eyes seemed a bit large. This one had brown eyes and they looked human enough. The ears, mouth and nose seemed within normal human range as well. Clearly with some makeup, glasses and the right clothing this being would not be noticed as different from anyone else on the street.

Turning to the group the "senator" started speaking. It was clear to Daria that the language was Latin. She was glad that Herman was recording so that they could get a full translation later.

As the being's monologue continued there was a star chart shown. There were also pictures of various buildings on Earth shown in their glory days. The Circus Maximus, Colosseum, Imperial Palace, Senate, and probably a dozen other Roman sites were shown. This alone was a massive discovery. Now there were actual images of what were now mere ruins. Archaeologists had been guessing what they looked like for centuries. There were also images of people and places in the post-Roman world. This included images of some Merovingian kings, Charlemagne, Byzantine buildings, emperors and others.

Of course not every image presented was of a Roman or Byzantine. There were images of Atilla the Hun, Qin dynasty emporers in China, and even Mayan pyramids and rulers. There was a long period of the alien just speaking. There were pictures of religious leaders. Several in Roman garb that Daria didn't recognize, but there were moving images that seemed to correspond to traditional images of both Christian and Islamic leaders. Also shown were images of Asians and Meso-Americans.

In all the presentation went on for nearly an hour. Finally, the image made a final statement and asked for questions. Though Daria had many questions, she didn't speak Latin and had no idea how to answer. She had barely understood 10% of what was being said.

Shamus stepped forward and asked, "Quare es vos ostendens quemadmodum et haec?" (Why are you showing us these things?)

The image turned to him and answered, "Ita ut non esset scire, quod in terris." (So that you may know that we were on Earth.)

"Gratias tibi ago," (Thank you) Shamus replied.

After the image answered Shamus' question it faded and disappeared. Almost immediately, the group was startled to see a door opening at the end of the room. Shamus led the way and everyone followed. The door shut behind them. No one gave much thought to the closing door. They had Herman with them.

 _25.2_

Once again the group and Herman stood in a large room. This time the room seemed empty. The lighting was dim, more so than in the previous space. Still, there was enough to see. What looked like a circular bench was positioned in the middle of the room.

The column of light that appeared almost right next to her startled Daria. She quickly moved over next to Tom. Once again a figure in a toga appeared. This was clearly someone other than the person from the previous room.

The figure began speaking in Latin. This time there was no choosing the language. His talk was relatively short – perhaps only 15 minutes. Then he disappeared.

Shamus said to the others, "Sit down. I need to tell you what he said."

Everyone went over and sat down on the circular bench. It was a little difficult to all face Shamus, but not impossible.

"OK," Shamus started. "The Guardian of Technology's name is 'Drusus.' This was not an uncommon Roman name. This is the place that they will present their technological 'gifts' to us. Drusus will be our 'guide.' Through him we will access what I believe is the following: first, the ability to create and negate gravity and similar forces. Secondly, some type of interstellar propulsion system. Third, the ability to create a force field to deflect any material which may lie in the path of a ship using the interstellar drive. Fourth, there are some sensor technologies for navigation and exploration. Finally, there is a system of power generation capable for powering all of this technology."

"Those are five incredibly powerful technologies!" Ian exclaimed.

"No kidding," Tom stated. "This is amazing and scary at the same time. Why would they give this to us?"

"Well," Shamus said. "They want us to visit them. I think that they have assumed that since we made it to Mars, and found their well hidden treasures, that we have progressed beyond warfare and self-destruction. Only a peaceful race committed to exploration could possibly achieve the task of being here."

Daria looked at Shamus, rolled her eyes and commented, "Boy are they in for a surprise! Part of the reason we were able to find them was a robot derived from the first human warfare on Mars. Even though I don't see any of us out to destroy other humans or these extraterrestrials doesn't mean that everyone will be like us. These people were naive to think that we would have to be at peace to get here. I would add that an absence of war is not necessarily peace."

Julie piped up, "What if someone gets their hands on the technology and wants to go have a war with these people and not be peaceful visitors?"

Shamus looked at Julie and said quietly, "That is my fear as well. As Martians we made a commitment to be at peace with one another no matter what happens on Earth. I think we need to take that a step farther. We need to understand what is being given to us, but it will remain Martian technology as long as possible."

Ian piped up, "That is great in theory. We will see how it plays out in practice."

"Anyway," Shamus said. "To access the material we need to return here and ask for the guide for each specific technology. The first will be 'Domitia." She will describe the control of gravity and force. The second will be 'Herminia' for the interstellar drive. 'Maximus' will tell us all about protective force fields. 'Aelius' will describe the sensor technologies and 'Augustus' will tech us about the power system. To access these 'people' we will go through Drusus. When we come in this room he will be activated and then we will need to ask him to bring up one of the others. This should be interesting. I think what we want to do is have Herman record these presentations. Then we can replay them back at the base and figure out what they say."

Everyone stood and nodded their heads.

Tom ordered, "Put your helmets back on and lets head back to the rover. We can contemplate our next move there."

The group approached the door and it opened letting into the next room. Walking over to that door led to the depressurization of the chamber and they stepped back into the hallway. Herman led them searching for a path to the surface – other than the hole Daria had made. In a half-hour they were back in the cave and on their way to the rover.


	26. Chapter 26: Tech Support

**Chapter 26: Tech Support**

Shamus and Ian set up the folding table in the habitat and covered it with a sheet as a tablecloth. Tom and Daria were doing the cooking and Julie was setting up the chairs. Tonight they were going to have a good cooked meal to celebrate their discovery. They would also be making plans for what to do next.

Beef steak strips, roasted potatoes, creamed spinach, and strawberry shortcake made for an excellent dinner. One thing about Mars, Daria thought, was that when you had to go out on an extended mission at least they sent some of the best food items with you! That certainly kept morale up and you were unlikely to have a mutiny because of the food!

During dinner Shamus remarked, "We probably ought to talk about what to do with all of this knowledge we are about to receive!"

"What do you mean," Ian asked.

Shamus looked at each person in the group, "What is it we have before us? If I understand the list we have: anti-gravity devices, interstellar propulsion, an interstellar navigation system, and force fields. Is mankind ready for this? Should we blow up this whole place, because in mankind's hands these technologies would be a menace? What will happen as the nations of the Earth get these technologies into their hands? Will they lead to self-destruction?"

Daria jumped in with, "Using the same logic and absence of information, I could argue that these technologies will lead to world peace and harmony among peoples. We want to develop solutions to these problems and overcome these obstacles. Why not now?"

Julie set down her knife and fork and wiped her mouth on a napkin. Then she cleared her throat. Quietly she stated, "First and foremost we are explorers and scientists. It is not our role to determine what happens with something that we find. Nuclear weapons were a terrible discovery and a terrible threat. Yet, it is nuclear weapons on Earth that kept the peace for nearly a century. Even when we did have the next major war it was not nuclear weapons that were the curse. They weren't even used! It was the robots that waged war that were the curse. Yet, just look at what horrors resulted in our being able to create Herman! No, we need to open the 'gifts' being given to us by these aliens. Others will decide how to put the information to use. If we do not bring this information to light, then we will have willingly squandered the greatest opportunity for humanity to explore and expand even more in this universe.

Ian nodded and added, "I agree with Julie. Exploration and science have resulted in good and bad throughout history. Alfred Nobel wanted to help with mining and earthmoving not war making. Yet, dynamite revolutionized both. We need to move forward."

Tom looked around the table. "I guess it is my turn," he said. "I think we should move forward. But, I think we need to look to our leadership to make some decisions. Our little discussion here has made me think."

"I guess my influence has rubbed off on you," Daria deadpanned without looking at Tom.

Tom chuckled, "It only took 40 years my love." Everybody had a good laugh.

"Seriously," Tom went on. "I think we should look at the possibility of keeping these technologies Martian property. The value of these technologies – if they actually work – is far too great to just hand them over to the public domain. We know how fickle funding can be. Right now we have people lining up to come to Mars. What about a decade from now? How do we ensure that there is a financial future for the Martian colony. While we have reduced the cost of operating the colony to those on Earth, this is still a hugely expensive undertaking. We are just now reaching the point where we might be able to survive without resupply from Earth. However, in that case we could be wiped out from some unforeseen event just as easily. Thus, I plan to talk with Mia and suggest that we hold this technology and force payment to license it – non-exclusively of course. That way we can have our own funding and don't have to rely on the governments of Earth to fund us out of their 'largess.'"

"You really are an accountant at heart, dear," Daria quipped.

Ian became quite animated saying, "You are right Tom. Not only could we license this technology, but if we build viable transports with it first, then we will have demonstrated it, which further increases the value!"

"Now you're thinking, Ian," Tom retorted and slapping his palm on the table. "It occurs to me that if we could be the sole manufacturers of key components, then we would have a monopoly position."

Shamus chimed in saying, "You realize this could still be the most important moral, political, and social decision of this century."

Tom turned to Shamus and responded, "I am not denying that. However, if that is the case, then perhaps we Martians should keep the basic technology out of the hands of Earth. We can find ways to promote exploration and science and try to keep them from using the technologies against us or possibly the aliens who are giving it to us."

At this Daria jumped in and deadpanned, "How long do you think these technologies will be ours alone? Aren't secrets – especially military ones – fleeting at best? How long until some power on Earth manages to obtain the technologies through espionage or reverse engineering? How will we control what people say when they get back to Earth? There is an old Chinese saying to the effect that if you take only one matchstick at a time you eventually get the whole house!"

"Wow, you make a good point, Daria," Julie exclaimed.

Looking at Daria, Tom said, "Just because theft may be inevitable doesn't mean you shouldn't have the technology. The challenges are to make it very hard for the thief and to keep on top of technology and make improvements. Then they will have stolen old technology at best."

Ian added, "However, that assumes we even understand what we are given. We could be creating things we do not even understand. That is the problem with using alien technology."

Daria cleared her throat and everyone turned to her. Again in her total deadpan she stated, "The key to making this work the way it is evolving in this conversation is through secret, compartmentalized information. That way no one has enough of the information to make use of it. In terms of what we might fabricate, well it is the same thing. Units will fabricate their specific parts, but not understand or necessarily even know about the other parts. At the integration level there is assembly of parts and even testing, but no knowledge of what is inside what are essentially black boxes to them. The parts need to fit and perform in a certain way, but there is no knowledge at the higher level of what is inside. In this way we may be able to fabricate without risking too much leakage."

Shamus looked at Daria and remarked, "How did an English professor get so knowledgeable about the ways of intelligence agencies?"

Daria looked back at Shamus and simply said, "Reading, of course. And there are things in Tom's and my background that have taught us much about such things."

There were nods around the table and everyone went back to eating. It was silent for several minutes. Then Julie looked up, "Of course this is all just speculation. We haven't seen what they are offering to us yet. This may at best just be premature speculation."

Tom looked at Julie and replied, "Well, we will see tomorrow. Tomorrow we take Herman to record and start getting lessons in interstellar systems."

Again, heads nodded. Everyone finished the rest of their dinner in silence. As they ate their dessert, Shamus chimed in with, "You know, what we really need is a native Martian sport. Americans have their football and Canada invented hockey. What should be the true native Martian sport?"

Daria deadpanned, "Probably something that involves stopping suit decompression before the player dies. That is what seems to draw the most excitement around here. Maybe making it like the running of the bulls in Pamplona."

Her comment brought a round of laughter.


	27. Chapter 27: Who?

**Chapter 27:** **Who?**

Daria was happy that she was sitting in the inflatable habitat. Tom and Shamus had taken Herman with them to start observing and recording the information about anti-gravity technology. Shamus at least could understand much of what was being said. Tom, though, was just there as backup. He spoke no Latin. Daria was just as happy to be cataloging and transferring information. Though people seemed to credit her with more knowledge than she actually had, she was at least a 'quick study.' Still, engineering and technology were just not her areas of expertise.

Ian and Julie were happy to finally have their portable laboratory set up. Now they could start analyzing the rock samples they had collected along the way. They had at least four or five days worth of work just to produce preliminary reports on the samples. Full analyses would require both the facilities back at Aries and much more time. The structures of these rocks were really quite fascinating. As they finished the individual reports they would be transferring them to Daria, who in turn would file them in the main database.

All three looked up as the airlock went through its cycle. Funny, Tom and Shamus were back much earlier than expected. The airlock opened.

Julia screamed.

Herman walked in – walking on his knees with his lower legs folded behind him.

 _27.2_

Tom worked himself slowly to his feet. This was probably the worst headache he had ever had. The last thing he remembered was a searing white light. Had he fallen over or had something struck him? Tom carefully checked each of the readouts displayed in his helmet. Internal pressure was good. Oxygen was good. He replayed the record from his chest camera since he entered the chamber. There was no record of any light and there was nothing suggesting he was struck by any object. He seemed to have just crumpled to the ground about an hour ago.

Tom looked over at Shamus. He appeared to just be regaining consciousness. His feet and hands seemed to be twitching. He was still face down. Tom walked over and turned Shamus onto his back.

"You OK?" Tom called into the person-to-person communication system.

"Yes," Shamus replied. "I think so, but I have a banger of a headache. I think it is worse than the hangover after getting drunk on Martian moonshine!"

"Don't know that I can verify that," Tom said. "But I have a terrible headache as well. Check your video log and see if anything looks suspicious to you."

Shamus took a moment and checked. "Nothing suspicious here. Looks like I just collapsed. Help me up!." Tom extended his hand and assisted Shamus getting to his feet. Upon standing Shamus remarked, "The only thing suspicious is that Herman is gone!"

Tom looked around. "I don't like that. I hope the programmers didn't miss any reset code. I would hate to see Herman revert to his old, nasty ways."

"Let's not borrow trouble. Maybe he saw us collapse and went to get help,"

Tom nodded and added, "We can only hope."

 _27.3_

Ian stood up and confronted Herman. He stood between the robot and his wife. "Command string," he said forcefully. The phrase "Command string" had been programmed into Herman to initiate a direct response under any circumstances. It overrode any other programming or action. The robot was to stop all movement and any other task to respond to a 'Command string' input. "Herman, what are you doing here? Where are Tom and Shamus? What is their condition? Report!"

The momentary pause seemed to last a lifetime. Then Herman responded, "I am here to communicate. Tom and Shamus are in the video room. They are unconscious but unharmed."

Daria chimed in, "What is it you wish to communicate?"

"I am no longer the robot you call 'Herman.' I was scanned and reprogrammed by Drusus. Through the data link we have been able to develop a translation system for our language into your language. We will use this robot to direct all data streams for you and to collect information about you. Already we have accessed your main computer on your base."

 _27.4_

Tom and Shamus walked toward the door to the video room. As they approached the door nothing happened. Ian said, "So, do you think we are trapped?"

Tom looked at the door and then checked his suit readouts. "I think we should start off by just trying to muscle it open. If we are lucky, then we can get it open far enough for both of us to get through."

"Sounds like a plan," Shamus replied. "You take the right side and I will take the left."

The two men moved up to the door, placed the palms of their gloves on the surface, and pushed upward. Nothing happened.

"Try again," Tom said. They tried again. Each set their feet and pushed.

The door moved. It moved about 30 cm (a foot). And it stayed.

"Let's get under it with our fingers and see if we can now lift it," Ian stated.

"I agree," Tom responded. The two men squatted, grabbed took the bottom edge of the door in their fingers, and made a maximum effort to raise it.

It moved upward another meter (3 feet 3 inches).

"Go ahead, Tom," Shamus said. "I will hold this while you roll underneath it.

Tom quickly dropped to the floor, rolled underneath the door, got up, and grabbed the bottom of the door. "Now it is your turn. Hurry Shamus!"

Shamus made the same maneuver and got out of the room. Tom had to help him up. Shamus remarked, "It is amazing how adrenaline is such a great painkiller! I am going to hurt like crazy tomorrow. Maybe even later today. That little maneuver should have been impossible with my arthritis!"

Tom chuckled, "No kidding. I hate to think what I am going to feel like tomorrow as well. At least neither of us broke a hip!"

Shamus let out a hearty laugh and then said in a totally serious tone, "Let's get going. We should get back and check on the others. We also need to find that robot."

Snickering Tom looked at Ian and commented, "For a moment there I thought you were going to call Herman a 'Bubble headed booby!"

Still laughing Shamus replied, "I like that name. How did you come up with it?"

"Oh, just an obscure TV sci-fi reference from my parents' childhood," Tom remarked.

"Ah. Let's get going."

 _27.5_

Daria leaped up out of her seat and positioned herself between Ian and the robot. She stated forcefully, "If your objective is to kill us, then you better do it now. Dragging this out serves no logical purpose. I warn you, though, we have defeated your kind before."

It was always difficult talking with these robots, because they did not have a real head or eyes. They only had their bubble. Their stereo video sensors really didn't make a good substitute for eyes.

"Daria, I have no intention of killing you or anyone else. If so, then I would have killed the two men of your party who were in the room with me when this robot was reprogrammed. They fainted during the process. I do not know why. When I left them they were breathing, their vital signs were good, and their suits were intact. They will awaken soon and return here I am sure. Now please sit down. This unit is not designed to sit, so I cannot join you."

Daria returned to her chair. She still had great suspicions about this robot, however at the moment she had no reason to doubt what it said. If Tom and Shamus were not back in two hours, then they would need to go and find them. If this thing tried to prevent them from finding the men, then it would cast serious doubt on it being friendly.

"What is your mission and why are you here?" Daria asked.

"First of all call me Marcipor. My mission is to facilitate a visit from your people to our planet. In order to accomplish that mission I will be providing you with technology, which will allow you to travel to our world."

Julia popped up next asking, "Why are you so interested in having us visit your world when you clearly spent considerable time here and never made yourselves widely known?"

Turning to Julia, Marcipor answered, "Intelligent life is exceedingly rare in this galaxy. Indeed, any life at all is quite rare. We have explored out to 20,000 lightyears from our home. In that space we have found only 2 other forms of intelligent life - you and one other. We are seeking to develop a relationship with another intelligent species. We do not want to be alone in the universe."

Julia followed his answer with, "So why haven't you made yourselves known? Why didn't you stay here?"

"We saw how you react to revelations. Making ourselves known could easily make you dependent on us. We did not want that. Humanity has an amazing ability to innovate. Your ability is not limited to one area. You innovate in technology, literature, art, philosophy, and so many other areas. That is unique. We do not want to stifle that. Rather, we would like to share in the richness. This is why we want you to visit us. We want you to teach us about your abilities to innovate."

"Wow," Ian remarked. "There go so many tropes that science fiction uses."

Marcipor went on, "After being here for so long and using this planet as our base, we decided that it was best to leave you to develop and that the best situation would be for you to find this outpost. That would mean you had become spacefaring and would likely be much more open to the idea of another intelligent species."

Daria was watching all of this and listening. She added, "Why does your species need our ability to innovate?"

Marcipor turned toward her, "We innovate well in technology. However, we understand that our artistic endeavors are poor at best in contrast to yours. We are utilitarian, which does not necessarily lead to beauty. We admire our natural world and consider the natural world to be beautiful. However, we have few artisans capable of imitating it. You do much better. Likewise, we are not great story tellers. We have preserved our history, but not in compelling stories. We are better at making lists of facts and events."

Ian said, "I want to hear about this other species you mentioned."

"There is not much to tell," Marcipor replied. "They have not shown the technological abilities of your species or ours. Their world is very watery and slightly smaller than Earth. Instead of continents they have 6 collections of islands. The islands generally range in size from Sicily to Britain. They mostly have island states for governance and there is little warfare. The people stick to their islands. Disease and the occasional famine prevent overpopulation. Thus, few pressures to gain new territory. They seem happy with this and do not develop new technologies very rapidly nor do they innovate much with social structures within their societies."

The best response Ian could come up with was, "Hmmm."

Daria spoke in slow measured tones, "Ok. I am willing to believe you for now. When Tom and Shamus return we will contact our colonial commander and inform her of your change and the desire to be helpful. However, there are ground rules. First, you will remain outside and you will communicate with us over the tight beam radio. You are too large to fit in the rover for the return trip. You will communicate only with the rover until you are given permission to do otherwise. Second, we will make the decision on who you are allowed to interact with. Your presence and nature need to be carefully revealed. Intelligent life beyond Earth is still a very delicate matter. Third, any hostile action by you will be met with force. You are on probation here. Just because at the moment we are willing to believe you does not mean we fully trust you. That trust will have to be earned. We have been conditioned by all those 'sci-fi tropes' as Ian put it, as well as our own history, to be wary of strangers who say that they mean well. Finally, no listening in on our conversations or discussions over the radio. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes Daria," Marcipor replied.

"Good," Daria said. "Now please wait outside."

Marcipor turned, cycled through the airlock, stood fully erect, and tool up a position next to the rover.

 _27.6_

Tom and Shamus made their way through the cave. At one point they stopped for a short rest. There was a ledge that allowed them to sit for a few minutes.

Tom turned to Shamus and asked, "How is your suit doing?"

"At the moment I have plenty of air. I have been running a full suit diagnostic as we walked. The results are kind of interesting."

"What are you finding?" Tom asked.

Shamus shifted his weight and replied, "It seems that at the time we passed out there was what appeared to be a large data stream coming in. The suits were unable to process the stream and therefore never accepted the data. It is the same mechanism that prevents someone from hacking our suits and venting our air. Still, the suits were briefly overwhelmed and our loss of consciousness may have been due to high frequency feedback."

"That would explain both our passing out and this vicious headache. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to some painkillers when we get back."

Shamus chuckled, "Me too. What concerns me, though, is the effect of that datastream on Herman. He was gone when we awoke. I sure hope the fabricators didn't miss any reset software when they built him."

Tom looked at Ian, "No, I don't think they did. Remember, you told me not to borrow trouble! Still, Herman does not have all of the anti-hacking defenses we have in our suits. Why have that on Mars? Especially when we know everyone here. However, he does have radio and audio inputs."

"Maybe we ought to pick up our pace," Shamus remarked. "While Herman is no longer a war machine, nevertheless he is very strong and I would not want the others to have to fend him off."

The two men stood up. As they started walking Tom added, "We should probably come up with a plan if we need to assist in a defense. We can discuss it on the way."

 _27.7_

There were only 15 minutes left in Daria's two hour window when she got off the radio with Mia. The conversation had been intense and that on top of Daria's anxiety about Tom was taking its toll.

Next, she switched to local communication mode. "Tom it's Daria. Come in." She repeated the message three times.

The next 30 seconds seemed like a year. Then she heard, "Daria it's Tom. We are alright and should be back at the rover in about 15 minutes. Is Herman there and are you OK?"

"Yes. Herman is here," Daria answered. "We will talk when you get back in here."

"Good," Tom responded. "By the way, pull out the analgesics. Shamus and I both have serious headaches."

"Will do. See you in a few. Daria out." Daria sat back and relaxed for the first time in what felt like days. Assured that Tom was OK and having worked out a plan with MIa it was time for Daria to relax.

It was about 12 minutes later when Daria heard the airlock cycle and Tom and Shamus came in. Daria jumped up and gave Tom a massive hug and kiss.

"My," Tom said in his imitation of Daria's deadpan. "A greeting like this is almost worth getting this headache. Too bad I have a headache."

Daria kissed him again. Then she punched him in the arm. "You had me scared to death. I was afraid you were dead. When Herman showed up - by the way his name is now Marcipor - and you two weren't with him I was very worried. He said you were OK, but I didn't know whether to believe him or not."

"What did you say Herman's new name was?" Shamus asked.

"Marcipor," Daria replied.

Shamus stroked his chin and said, "Interesting."

Daria looked at him intensely, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, it means 'Marcus' Slave' in the old Roman naming system. The question becomes 'Who is Marcus?' And why does Herman identify as his slave?"

"Herman is no longer Herman," Daria stated. "He was completely reprogrammed by the aliens."

Tom turned to Shamus, "Well, that explains the data stream you detected."

"It was used to reprogram our robot," Shamus mused.

Ian jumped in and added, "Not just reporgram. He has been reconfigured. This robot is now far more intelligent, articulate, and has been given a vast database regarding us both here on Mars and back on Earth. He almost seems intelligent in his own right."

Daria handed both Tom and Shamus some painkillers and then began filling them in on Marcipor and what had transpired.

 _27.8_

Marcipor assisted as Daria and the others were deflating and stowing the portable habitat. Her mind wandered as she pondered everything that had happened over the last 24 hours. Indeed over the past few days. The finding of the alien base and the transition of Herman into Marcipor.

Last evening Mia had held a conference call with the group. Something this big had to be discussed with the Martian Council. They had agreed to hold their first ever secret session. Fortunately they were all good people and loyal to Mars.

A clear decision had been reached. Mars would keep the alien technology for itself and not hand it over to Earth. For the time being the mere existence of aliens and alien technology would be treated as secret with only a few having access to it. Furthermore, whatever came from Marcipor would all be handled as secret, compartmentalized information. Only a very few would see the full picture. This included Mia as commander, Daria as archiveist, a physicist, and an engineer. Daria would have the task of creating a secure archive that would not be accessible from Earth and would only dispense information to authorized people.

Mia had gone on to tell the group that she had submitted her retirement papers to the Army, but was staying with the Mars project. She was now a civilian and so was her husband. That simplified her chain of command. She expected to finish out her term as commander. She and her husband were considering being the first people to stay on Mars permanently. That decision was a few years away, however they had elected to stay through another 5 year contract.

Marcipor's assistance really speeded up the packing process. He was much more useful than Herman. It still lurked in the back of Daria's mind that he could be more dangerous as well. Still, so far he showed no signs of ill will.

Daria took her seat in the rover as Ian was securing the airlock. It definitely felt more crowded than on the way out. Nevertheless there was plenty of air water and food for everyone for what was going to be a two day trek.

The rover lurched a bit as Tom engaged the drive system and in a few moments they emerged into the Martian sunshine. Daria noticed she immediately felt better seeing the sun than she had after days inside the lava tube. Looking out her window Daria could see Marcipor following the rover on foot. At least he seemed to have no problem keeping up. Even if he did have difficulty maintaining this speed, he would catch up when they stopped for the night. Afterall, robots don't need to sleep. Watching Marcipor through the window Daria thought, 'If robots did sleep would they dream electric dreams?'


	28. Chapter 28: The Running Clock

**Chapter 28: The Running Clock**

Daria sat staring at the computer screen. Today had started out as an emotional day, even though she hated to admit she had emotional reactions to things. Today marked six months until she and Tom departed Mars. It seemed impossible that four and a half years had gone by already. Today she and Tom had to start wearing the weights that would gradually get their musculoskeletal structure used to supporting their bodies in Earth's gravity again. They wore the weights on their shoulders, wrists, ankles, and a belt around their waists. They had kept up with their fitness requirements, so at least for the moment they were not so heavy. The weights would be increased weekly until it was time to go. Daria was just annoyed that these were a constant reminder that their time on Mars would soon be coming to an end.

As romantic and adventurous as it seemed, she had to admit to herself, and Tom as well, that she did not really want to live out the rest of her life here. Mars had been fun. Mars had been the adventure they had sought to have in this season of their lives. But, it was at the expense of being far away from family and friends. They both wanted to see the grandchildren grow up in person. Virtual reality was just not the same. Sure they both played important roles here. But that did not mean that they could not be replaced or at least have successful successors.

As she was sitting there musing, Mia came in the door. This startled Daria and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry to startle you," Mia said. "Short timer."

"No problem. I was just thinking about having only six months left."

Mia smiled, "It is amazing how the hours might sometimes seem to drag on, but the months and years fly by!"

Daria asked, "What can I do for you?"

"For once, nothing," Mia said as she grabbed a chair. "Sometimes I just need someone to talk to other than my husband. He is great, but he is still just one person."

"What's up?"

"Nothing in particular. That is what worries me," Mia said with a chuckle. "We had a successful first flight of the test vehicle. The landing system works. The unmanned test of the Alcubierre drive was successful."

"The warp drive."

Nodding her head Mia responded, "Yes. The warp drive. We managed to engage it when Mars was between the ship and Earth, so I do not think they could have seen the flash as it engaged and passed the speed of light."

"That's good," Daria responded.

"It is good. Now I have to put people in it. That is the scary part. It is one thing to risk a machine. It is another to take two living, breathing humans and put them in something that could potentially be a death trap."

Now it was Daria's turn to be a little morose and say in total deadpan, "Look Mia. All of Mars is a death trap. This planet tries every day to kill all of us. We can't breathe the atmosphere. Even if we could the pressure is so low our lungs would explode. There is no open water. We have to mine it. A hole in the habitat or failure of the wrong systems and we all die a slow death together. Boom the experiment is over. The dust gets in everything. We are constantly cleaning things to avoid that dust. Mars is a pretty odd paradise for a human!"

"You're always the optimist aren't you Daria," Mia exclaimed.

Daria looked at her and responded, "Only a realist."

Mia laughed. "Still, we are pioneers. We have come to a place to make a home where no human has ever trod. We build this habitat. We built the agricultural domes. We began fabricating our own equipment and now a spaceship that could take us to the stars. Well, at least a prototype."

Daria asked, "So who are you going to send out on the first manned test flight?"

"I have chosen Darren and Anton. Darren is an excellent rover driver. He was a fighter pilot on Earth and flies 'copters here. Anton is brave and the closest thing we have to a war hero. Plus, I've seen the two drinking straight Martian Moonshine together."

Now Daria's mood lightened. She chuckled, "I think drinking straight Martian Moonshine qualifies you as a risk taker and adventurer in and of itself." Pausing a moment she got more serious and added, "How do Marcie and Ludmilla feel about this?"

"Actually, they wanted to go to. They wanted to know why I wasn't sending a woman along. I told them that first of all there are only two seats. Second, I do not have a woman with the skill set needed for this flight. In the event of some kind of failure out in space those two will need Anton's Spetsnaz training to either fix the problem or accept their fate."

"Why not send Marcipor?"

Mia sighed. "Probably because I am still uneasy about him. He has been instrumental in getting this ship built. But, I do not want to take the chance this was all to get us to fabricate a ship for him to steal and take home. This is the next technological wave for humanity. I do not want a robot taking it away."

"Understood. I have been having some good conversations with Marcipor. He knows so much Earth history and can even provide video material of events long before there was video, or photography. It is really fascinating to see ancient Rome in all of its splendor. They even managed to record a session of the Senate!"

"That is amazing."

Daria cleared her throat. "So when do you plan to do the manned test of this new craft?"

"Tomorrow, Daria. Tomorrow. I pray that all will go well."

 _28.2_

Darren looked at Anton and at the screens in front of him. They were filled with images of dials and lists of data from all of the prototype's systems.

Anton said, "That is the end of the pre-flight checklist. Everything is ready to go."

Darren stated to the microphone embedded ahead of him in the cockpit, "Martian Explorer I is ready for launch."

"Roger Martian Explorer I," came the voice across the communication system. They were using a wired system at the moment so that there would be no chance of Earth picking up their signals. "After launch maintain radio silence."

"Roger," Darren replied. "Let's do this!"

"Launch in 1 minute. Mark," came the voice again.

Darren and Anton settled themselves into their chairs again in anticipation of the launch. This was actually irrational. The inertial dampers were online, so they would not feel any acceleration during launch. Without inertial dampers when they engaged the Alcubierre drive they would become 2 mm thick splotches of goo on the back wall – assuming the back wall or any other part of the ship survived.

As the countdown hit zero the craft began moving down the launch rail. By the time it departed the end of the rail it was traveling at Martian orbital velocity. It took just a little maneuvering from the thrusters to gain a stable orbit.

The flight plan was displayed on the screens. Darren and Anton would orbit Mars twice in a stable orbit and then on the third orbit engage the warp drive when the planet was between them and Earth. That would propel the bus sized craft into deep space at a speed greater than that of light itself. In that moment Darren and Anton would be traveling faster than any human in all of history.

Anton stated in a flat voice, "All systems nominal. Orbit is stable."

"Roger," Darren responded. "Continue monitoring. Warp drive in 20 minutes."

The time seemed to tick by slowly, even though both men were fully engaged in their checklists and starting the mission recording systems. After what seemed an eternity the time finally came.

Darren said with some formality for the moment, "Anton, I am engaging warp drive. We are leaving Mars for Uranus at 1.2 C." With that Darren pressed the display and the ship accelerated almost instantaneously to 1.2 times the speed of light. On their displays they saw a momentary flash of light and then the screens cleared and they saw space ahead of them."

Anton stated, "Shields are nominal. Inertial dampers nominal." Turning his face toward Darren he added, "Which is obvious since we are not both dead gelatinous masses on the back wall." Turning back to his display he continued, "Warp field is stable. Sensors show no objects ahead of us which the shields would not be able to deflect. Engaging artificial gravity set to Mars normal. You are clear to increase speed."

"Roger," Darren replied. "Increasing speed to 2 C." Silently the spaceship increased its speed to twice the speed of light.

Anton intoned, "All systems continue to be nominal. Estimated time of arrival at Uranus is 1 hour. We are on schedule. If it is all the same to you Captain I am going to get out of my seat and use the head."

"You are relieved to relieve yourself Anton," Darren said in his best military intonation. "At least with these suits we don't have to foul ourselves unless it is an emergency."

Anton turned to Darren and responded, "I am thankful to God for small things. Hopefully he will let us complete this mission in one piece."

Darren smiled to himself and turned back to his displays. As he looked at them all he could think of was that Anton was so Russian.

 _28.3_

For being the fastest humans in history and the ones that traveled farthest in space the next hour was nothing if not boring. Being essentially test pilots, most of what Darren and Anton did was verify that performance data of their spacecraft was being recorded and they also recorded data on the conditions in interplanetary space. There were no breathtaking moments. The largest piece of dust that careened off of the shields was encountered while transiting the asteroid belt. That 'asteroid' was the size of a grain of sand.

Finally as the end of the transit hour approached there was something to do. They were traveling fast enough that they would have to slow or Uranus would simply fly by in an instant.

Darren called out, "Going sub-light. Setting speed to 0.2 C."

"Roger," Anton replied. "We need to slow to 0.01 C to make the turn around Uranus." As he looked up the giant planet was coming into view on his screen.

"Slowing to 0.01 C," Darren stated. "Calling up thruster setting to make the turn."

The craft began its preprogrammed turn around the giant planet, which now mostly filled the view screens.

"Darren," Anton exclaimed. "I am getting a reading on long range sensors."

"Can you put it on your screen?" Darren asked.

"Yes," Anton replied. He pressed a couple of buttons and up came an image generated from the sensor readings. "It looks like a ship."

"I agree. In fact, the configuration is similar to ours, but it looks like it is missing pieces. Set an intercept course and we will check it out. As we approach I will idle the warp drive and we will approach on thrusters."

"I will make certain there is no reduction in the shields. I do not want some stray piece of junk bringing this mission to an end!"

Darren slowed the ship further and Anton calculated the intercept course and the information was loaded into the navigation computer. The computer also generated the power profile to arrive exactly at the ship. As soon as it was entered, Darren engaged the program and the two waited. Neither had ever even had a thought that they would encounter another ship on this short voyage.


	29. Chapter 29: Derelict

**Chapter 29: Derelict**

The Martian Explorer I came up alongside the derelict ship. The computer made certain that they did not collide with any debris along the way.

"We are stopped relative to the other ship," Darren remarked.

"Good," Anton replied. "Let's raise the viewscreens and open the port side windows. That will let us see this thing with our own eyes. Also, I am activating the illumination system. The lights can be turned outward so we can see what is here."

It took a moment to open the window coverings so that Darren and Anton could view the wreck with their own eyes and not through a camera. The scene was both fascinating and disturbing. The men stood there for perhaps 5 minutes just looking at it.

"The back half of the ship is where the heavy damage is located. Half of the warp ring is gone. Whole decks are exposed. You can even see through it in one spot. There are bodies everywhere Anton! Some look like they are wearing normal clothing. Some are partially dressed in spacesuits, and others are fully suited!"

"I feel sorry for the ones in full spacesuits," Anton stated quietly.

"Why?" Darren asked.

Anton looked at him and said, "Because they would have died most slowly. In their climate controlled, pressurized suits they would have had plenty of time to contemplate the fact that they would run out of power and air and then slowly freeze or suffocate. There was no one to rescue them. For hours – maybe longer – they simply floated and waited for death."

"You know that is why I like you, Anton. You always are so optimistic and look on the bright side of things."

Anton snorted, "But it is the truth."

"I know," Darren replied.

Anton cleared his throat, "We need to get as many pictures as we can. We have about 30 minutes to spend here and record this scene. Clearly we have no equipment to go out there, much less attempt to dock and board that ship. We will take as many pictures as we can in the time we have and then leave."

"Very well," said Darren. 'We do not want to be off-schedule. They will start to worry about us back on Mars. Now that we know this is here perhaps we can return and really investigate this situation.

"We will certainly need much more equipment, Darren."

Over the next 20 minutes the men used the ship's recording systems and lights to obtain images of the wreck. Anton manipulated the external lights and Darren managed the attitude of the ship to create shadows and angles to obtain the best possible and most useful images.

Darren remarked, "I think the key thing we need to understand is whether this damage originated internally or externally."

"You are correct my friend. That may be hard to determine given our resources here. External damage could lead to a cascading effect that would also cause damage from the inside. I think the larger question is whether or not this was an accident, malfunction," Anton paused a moment and looked at the wreck before intoning, "or sabotage."

"You are certainly always the optimist, Anton!"

"All part of being Russian. Now let's finish this and get going. I have not seen so many corpses since the war back on Earth. This is bringing back memories that I would just as soon forget."

"Understood. Let's finish here and head for Saturn."

It took about 5 minutes to finish and reset the ships system to continue their flight. In just 8 minutes they were headed for Saturn at twice the speed of light.

 _29.2_

Daria and Tom sat in the dining room sipping coffee. In this case it was real coffee. The coffee trees had just borne their first crop and the chefs had dried and roasted the beans. The beans were a robust Columbian variety, which had been genetically modified to thrive under the growing conditions on Mars. Also, the trees would remain short – more like bushes, really – in order to make picking the beans easy.

Tom remarked to Daria, "I have truly missed this. There is nothing like a good brewed cup of coffee!"

Daria smiled and raised her cup, "Coffee. Coffee for everyone!"

Tom chuckled, "Absolutely. Now we will have a constant supply grown right here."

Daria commented, "Poor Anton and Darren are missing the first pour!"

"I think becoming the first humans to travel faster than light is not a bad trade-off for missing out on a cup of coffee. They can have coffee to celebrate their return!"

With a half-smile Daria deadpanned, "I don't know, this coffee is pretty good. Of course maybe I just don't remember what it should taste like."

"Does it taste like what Brittany used to make in the office?"

Daria outright laughed at that one. Then she deadpanned, "No, dear, it does not. I do remember what Brittany's coffee tasted like. It pretty much tasted like varnish remover. One sip of that stuff and you could teach class all day, but never get the taste out of your mouth. It was especially bad if it sat on the burner for 3 or 4 hours. You know, to get nice and concentrated." Looking over the edge of her cup she added, "Now don't bring back unpleasant memories. I want to enjoy my coffee."

Tom changed the subject again, "So, if this test flight works out, then the next ship we build could bring the entire trip to Earth from loading the ship to docking at the orbiting spaceport down to about 30 minutes!"

Daria responded once again in her deadpan voice, "Fine by me. The MTV is really boring. So much of the time what you are watching is just inane. Your job is to provide redundancy to what the computer and artificial intelligence systems are doing multiple times per second. Truly it is 'make work' just to force people not to get into fights. Besides it is cramped. I would much prefer a craft that was more like an airplane. Then we could just take a seat and get up when we arrive."

Waiving his hand in the air Tom mused, "We should paint the ships red, blue and yellow – the colors of the Martian Republic! We also need a good name for our planetary space line. Something better than 'Martian Spacelines' or something like that."

"I can see the headline: Accountant becomes marketer!" Daria said as she winked at Tom. "Seriously, I will suggest to Mia that we have a contest to create a name and livery. You have a good idea."

"We will need to select carefully, though,' Tom added. "Remember when we were in college there was a major airline that spent millions on a new livery and the planes wound up looking like aluminum cans of Coca-Cola?"

Daria corrected Tom saying, "Actually it wasn't cans of regular Coca-Cola. Their planes looked like giant cans of Diet Coke!"

"That's right!"

Daria's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it. There was a message from Mia saying that Darren and Anton were on final approach and would land in about 10 minutes. Both she and Tom received the message. They finished the last drops of their coffee and then headed out.

 _29.3_

Daria watched out of an old habitat window as the Martian Explorer I approached the landing pad. She could see Tom's rover parked about a hundred meters (330 ft.) away from the pad. The anti-gravity system made this descent different than any she had ever seen before. As the craft came down it visibly slowed. The rockets didn't fire until it was about 30 meters (99 ft) above the surface. Even then the rockets were for maneuvering onto the pad rather than to slow the craft. The technology that Marcipor had provided was truly amazing.

At about 10 meters above the pad the Explorer hovered and then extended its landing legs. It was centered on the pad and the rockets were off. The whole thing just seemed to settle gently down. It reminded Daria of a feather floating to the ground.

She continued watching as Tom drove over and opened the airlock. He stepped out in his surface suit to connect the communications cable to the craft, since they were maintaining radio silence. Even now their place on Mars was pointed away from the Earth. Once the cable was connected Daria could hear the chatter in her headset.

Daria heard Darren saying,"Secured from anti-gravity." Then Anton replied "Check." this was followed by other checklist items, such as making certain the main power was shut down. Finally, they checked each other's surface suits, came through the airlock, and down the stairs in the forward port landing leg.

Tom walked up and shook the hand of each man, "Welcome home!" he intoned.

"Thanks Tom," Darren replied. "It was an amazing trip. We want to get back to the habitat and debrief with Mia as quickly as possible. We are exhausted and would like to get some food and sleep!"

Anton added, "We are not kids of 40 anymore! When you send old men on trips like this we like our food and sleep!"

Tom nodded and laughed as he escorted the men to the rover. Once they cycled through the airlock and everyone was seated Tom drove them back to the main habitat vehicle entrance. There they cycled through the vehicle airlock, parked, and finally descended to the ground. Daria and Mia stepped into the vehicle area just as the men were removing their helmets.

Mia walked up to Darren and Anton, "Welcome back and congratulations on a successful mission!"

"Thank you," Darren replied.

Anton got close to Mia and said quietly, "We need to talk right now. We have important things to report. It might be useful to have Daria and Tom there as well."

"Certainly," Mia replied. "But first I want Daria to get a picture of us together." As she stood with the men and smiled, Mia was curious not only what they had to report so urgently, but why Anton would ask for Tom and Daria. Certainly they all got along well together, but knowing Anton that was not the reason for his request.

The men went off to change out of their surface suits while Mia and Daria headed for Mia's conference room. Mia stated to Daria, "Something is up. I am dying to know what they saw out there. I have a feeling it isn't good. Anton seems very insistent about reporting. He specifically asked for you and Tom at the debrief. That is just plain strange. When something isn't quite right he will usually insist on talking to me in private."

Daria nodded. "Let's not borrow trouble. We need to hear what he and Darren have to say."

Arriving at the conference room Mia started a pot of coffee – a great way to welcome back the explorers, especially since they had missed the debut of Martian coffee! She had also had the presence of mind to order two dozen cookies from the kitchen. 'Men like their cookies,' she thought to herself. Daria set up the recording systems. Just-in-case she made certain that things were set for recording a top-secret session.

 _29.4_

Everyone made themselves comfortable at the conference table. The chairs were padded and adjustable. The room was well designed for long sessions. Each member of the group poured themselves a mug of coffee and grabbed a couple of cookies. Darren and Anton took four each. Clearly they were hungry after their journey.

"So tell us about your trip," Mia stated. "You were a half hour late returning."

Darren stood up, dimmed the lights and placed a data stick in the screen. "As the ship's commander," he began. "I declare that this briefing to be classified 'top-secret' and that no one may discuss it outside of this room with anyone other than the base commander." His first slide simple had the words 'Top Secret' on it.

Mia looked a moment at Darren and then stated, "I consider your statement rather presumptuous and your claim to the status of 'ship's commander' rather thin. However, since I do know you and have known you for the past three years, I will allow your statement. Please note that everyone in this room has top-secret clearance. Please begin."

Darren began very formally. Clearly he was not comfortable with what he was about to say. "Commander, fellow officers, and senior staff members. At T+2 hours and 45 minutes into our test flight we encountered an alien spacecraft." Darren put a picture of the craft on the screen. "The similarity in configuration to our craft cannot be ignored. We approached the craft and parked next to it." The slide was changed to show a much closer view. "From this angle you can see the debris field and bodies floating in space."

Mia's eyes got quite wide, "What happened?" She asked. Admittedly it was really a rhetorical question.

Anton spoke up saying, "We do not know. We zoomed in." The picture zoomed in closer to the wreckage. "You can see the debris field and the bodies just floating in space."

It was true. They could see those things. Darren went to the next slide, which zoomed in further. It showed machinery parts mixed with electronics and of course bodies, Some bodies were in suits others nearly naked.

"Wow," came out of Daria's mouth. She hardly realized it.

Darren went on, "There is also writing on the side. If we can get a translation that might would help. Although I will admit it may just be the name of the ship."

Anton said, "We need to mount a mission back to this ship. Soon."

Mia responded immediately, "I agree."

Tom turned to Anton and asked, "Anton, I understand why you needed Mia at this meeting as commander and Daria as official recorder. However, I am a bit curious why you asked for me. I drive rovers and manage resources. I am certainly not an engineer or materials scientist, which is the type of person you need to analyze the type of information you presented."

Looking around the room Anton said, "Because I can trust your objectivity, Tom. And I trust your discretion. You are analytical and you will approach things with a sense of needing balance. That is how you think as an accountant. Your perspective is different than any of us who have a military background or even your dear wife the distinguished English professor. As our librarian and archivist, she has a broad perspective on this colony and everything that has happened here unlike anyone else, with the possible exception of the base commander."

Tom replied, "Thank you for the compliments, Anton. I hope that we can continue to live up to your expectations!"

"I have no doubts," Anton responded.

Mia spoke up at this point, "OK, here is what I want to happen. First, we are going to service the Explorer and get it ready for this mission. We should be able to do that in a week. Second, I want the crew to be Anton, Darren, Daria, Tom, Shamus, and Nelson. Third, we have several full spacesuits, so I want you to go over to that ship and explore it. We will also send along materials to form a habitable zone within it if needed."

Anton turned to Mia and stated, "Adding Nelson brings another person into the group that knows details about the aliens. The more people that know the information the less secure the information. Is this wise?"

Mia responded, "We need his expertise. Before coming here he was the best structural engineer in South Africa with a strong international reputation. He has investigated structural failures all over the world. He was one of the first experts on the scene after the 2030 quake in Italy. His credentials in forensic analysis are impeccable. Like the rest of us he came here as much for the adventure as for the work."

"Very well," Anton said.

Daria asked, "What about Marcipor? Should we take him with us?"

"No," Mia stated. "I still do not fully trust our helpful robot. His stated reasons and mission seem simple and straightforward. However, having no point of reference I am willing to trust him only so far. What if it was the robots onboard that intentionally wrecked this ship? Are the aliens truly looking for us to go visit or do they just need a new food source? There is a great deal we still do not know. Thus, I will trust and use Marcipor to a point. But, I am not about to give him unfettered access to this colony and our resources. That said, I will be having a talk with him."

Everyone nodded. A decision had been made. In about a week they would mount a mission to the derelict ship and see what they could find."

 _29.5_

"Hello Mia," Marcipor said in his soft voice. "How are you?"

Mia answered, "Just fine, Marcipor. However, I have been quite busy lately. It seems we have found one of your ships."

In even tones Marcipor replied, "A ship? Where did you find a ship? All of the ships departed about a thousand earth years ago."

"This one is in space," Mia state. "It is caught in orbit around Uranus and was destroyed by some event."

"I have no recollection of a ship being destroyed. What data can you give me?"

Mia noted to herself the response from Marcipor. He said he had 'no recollection.' Did this mean he did not know? Did it mean he knew but did not immediately recall it? Was he hiding something? Humans when they want to hide past behavior or events often would claim to 'not remember' something. This was a way of avoiding purgery in court. This was the type of thing which left Mia uneasy.

"I can show you some pictures that were taken by Explorer I." She fed the pictures – carefully chosen – directly into Marcipor's memory.

"Interesting," Marcipor responded. "This was the ship 'Endurance.' I think that is the best translation. It was the last one to leave Mars. It left about a month after the others. I am somewhat surprised that a rescue expedition was not sent to recover it and any remaining crew. I would have expected that."

 _29.6_

Darren completed the pre-flight checks and Anton assisted. Explorer I had been serviced and rapidly refitted. The week had gone very quickly. In addition to the work on their craft, they had to select their gear, do some minimal training, and get Nelson up to speed on what he needed to know for the mission. Preparing Nelson was probably the most time consuming part. Finally, it appeared that everything was ready to go.

Daria considered her surroundings. This seat would be her home for the next three days. It was at least comfortable for now. She would ride to the destination in it. She would carry out any onboard work in it. She would eat her meals sitting there. Since the seats were designed to lay flat, she would even sleep in it. Tom was across the aisle in an identical cubicle. In some ways it reminded her of some of the long haul flights they had taken in business class 30 years ago. What were the big differences? Well, no flight attendant bringing unlimited beer, wine, and spirits for one. Also, there was no window, unless the pilot opened the coverings. And, of course, there was the matter of riding in a craft which used advanced alien technology which they could build, but not fully understand. Maybe they should serve at least a couple of straight shots of Martian Moonshine on this flight!

Darren announced, "Now we are just waiting for the colony to pass out of sight of Earth. Then we can launch. It should be in about 5 minutes. Make sure you are locked into launch position."

When the craft started down the launch rail there was little sense of acceleration. Darren had set the inertial dampers to negate most, but not all, of the feeling. It was a matter of a very few minutes and they were in a stable orbit around Mars. When the Explorer was once again hidden from Earth Darren initiated the warp drive and they were headed to Uranus at over twice the speed of light.

It occurred to Daria as they were headed to Uranus that she was now the first human woman to travel faster than light! 'Wow,' she thought to herself. 'I am now a footnote in the history books. How thrilling.'


	30. Chapter 30: Investigation

**Chapter 30: Investigation**

Daria waited patiently as Darren and Anton brought the Explorer close to the derelict ship. It at least felt like it took as long to move the past 1,000 m (3300 ft) as it did to get to Uranus from Mars. She could tell from her clock that was not the case. Still, the transit to Uranus was just over 2 hours and the final maneuvering took a half hour. At very slow speed they were using the shielding to push debris and bodies out of the way as they closed in to the other ship.

Darren parked their craft about 100 m (330 ft) from the other ship. Then he put the exterior lights on to illuminate the craft. Daria looked at the ugly jagged material of the wreck in her viewer. The light dissipated somewhere inside the other craft. She could see bits of floating debris and a couple of bodies, which appeared to be in space suits. This was a scene she surely would not forget.

"Deploy the probe," Anton ordered.

Darren complied. There was an audible 'clank' as the probe was released from the outer hull and began to spool out the 2,000 m (6,600 ft) of optical fiber connected to it.

Anton continued, "Nelson, you have control of the probe."

"Roger Anton," replied Nelson.

"Remember, look for anchor points and watch out for jagged pieces that could cut the fiber."

"Yes Anton."

Nelson guided the probe through the jagged hole in the hull and turned its lights on. The view inside the wreck was stark. There were clearly signs of fire, of explosions, and there were fallen pieces of what looked like the ship's structure. Bodies, though not exactly human, showed the clear markings of decompression. Death had come quickly to many, but not all. In the vacuum and cold of space there had not been any decay of the bodies even though they had been dead a thousand years. Another thing Daria had noticed is that there was no sign of any power active on the ship. This was hardly surprising given the massive damage and its age.

Nelson guided the probe in the general direction of where the bridge was known to be located. Marcipor had given them a general idea of where major places and systems were located on the ship. However, he did not have details. But, some information was better than none. At various points along the route Nelson took samples.

It took about three hours for Nelson to maneuver the probe to a point near where they expected to find the bridge. Daria notice at that point only about 20% of the fiber optic cable had been used. Progress had stopped, however, since they ran into a closed hatch. The probe was not equipped to get through such a barrier.

Anton spoke, "Darren, Nelson, Shamus, and I will get our spacesuits on and prepare to go outside. Tom, you have the con and you will need to keep an eye on the probe. Once we have the hatch open I want you to move the probe forward to see what is beyond it. If there appears to be pressure, then we will have to set up a temporary barrier and airlock. If we run into trouble it will be up to Tom and Daria to get us out of there."

About 20 minutes later the four men were outside of the Explorer and following the path of the fiber to find the spot where the probe had encountered the closed hatch.

Anton led the group. Darren brought up the rear and made certain the fiber was intact. Along the way Nelson took several images for engineering analysis. Shamus took several samples for chemical analysis.

"I tell you, Shamus," Nelson remarked. "I don't think this ship was hit by a piece of space junk! What I am seeing looks like the failure was internal. My first reaction upon looking at the hull and what I see inside is that there was explosion, followed by a fire. I think the decompression was what put out the fire."

Shamus replied, "Well, the chemical analysis will tell us if the fire just stopped due to lack of oxygen or if it was stopped by some fire suppression system. Any chemical they used for fire suppression will certainly leave a trace!"

It took them another 45 minutes to reach the probe's location. There they saw the probe stopped in space about midway between the deck and the ceiling. Anton had everyone adjust their person-to-person frequencies to be the same as the probe's, surmising that they were deep enough in the ship that no one would outside the immediate area around the ship would pick up any transmission.

"Daria, can you hear me?" Anton said.

"Yes," Daria replied. "Have the others test communications as well." Each did. Now Daria could hear all of their conversations. She set the recording system to save each person as a separate track, though she would also hear all tracks simultaneously.

Considerable discussion ensued over the next step and how to gain access to the closed compartment. Shamus stepped forward and placed a sensor on the door. He commented, "There seems to be a heat source behind this door. It is substantially warmer than the bulkheads behind us."

Anton said simply, "Bring the 12 mm (½ in) drill. We will drill through, insert the stick probe and see what is inside."

The next hour was spend carefully drilling through the door. They did not want to drill through any mechanism which might make it more difficult to open the thing once they knew what was behind it. Darren stood by to insert the probe once they were through.

"Alright," Anton said. "We seem to be getting some gas venting. Give me the bug and then Darren insert the probe."

'The Bug' was a 10 mm (0.4 in) cylinder pushed into the hole. It was pushed on through by the probe. Once through it deployed six legs for mobility. It included a camera, plus temperature, and pressure sensors. It also collected gas samples and sent the raw data to the probe for analysis.

Darren looked at the display in his helmet. Reading the results he said, "Temperature inside is 2 degrees C (36 F), pressure is 900 mbars, atmosphere is 22% oxygen and 70% nitrogen. The rest looks like helium. It is certainly breathable, but I would recommend we stay in our suits, since we have no idea about pathogens."

"Set up the temporary airlock and we can then open this door," Anton ordered.

The group unpacked and began installing the flexible materials that would seal the area and form an airlock. While they were doing that Anton spent his time examining the mechanism and how they might actually gain access. It took the better part of an hour to set up the airlock. At this point, however, they did not pressurize the area.

While the group outside the door was working, Daria was watching the feed from the 'bug.' The room was very dark, but not totally dark. There were at least three blue lights glowing. Two were on top of one another. The infrared display showed that the room was filled with equipment, but there were no lights or displays illuminated. As the 'bug' moved around the room it showed that there was writing on various surfaces. There was writing near the three blue lights and the lights were just bright enough that Daria could download images of the text to the computer.

"Shamus," Daria called over the communications link.

He replied, "I am a little busy right now with this airlock. Can we talk later."

"OK. But, I wanted you to know that I have a translation of the writing. It doesn't seem to make much sense though."

"I'll tell you when I can look at it. Shamus out."

Anton called, "Tom, we are coming back. I want to top off all of our consumables and get Daria. This door is going to require her and her cutting torch to open."

"Roger," Tom said. "We will get you topped up and Daria ready to go when you get back here."

Muting her communications link, Daria deadpanned to Tom, "Great. I don't like zero gravity and now I will have to go out and work in it. If humanity was meant to be in zero gravity we would have been born in space."

All Tom could do was laugh.

 _30.2_

Daria floated in front of the closed hatch door. She lowered the solar shield on her helmet and started her torch. The electric arc slowly cut through the metal. Daria was a bit surprised that even though she was using an 11,000 degree C arc the process was going slowly. Clearly this metal was designed to take some very significant heat. If this was the ship's bridge, then it was well protected.

It had taken nearly a half-hour to cut through the door. It was now clearly loose. Of course they had secured it so that the pressure inside would not simply blow the door open as it came loose. Daria's cutting had also been done in the vacuum of space, since providing oxygen while cutting might have caused a fire. Given that this ship seemed to have at least partially burned, they did not want to provide any new opportunities to start a new fire.

Darren opened the tank that has sufficient air in it to pressurize the outer area they created. Shamus monitored the pressure. They wanted to try and exactly match the 900 mbar pressure inside. The gas mixtures might not be the same, but they were most likely close enough.

"We are at pressure," Shamus stated matter-of-factly.

"Good," Anton replied. "Now open the door and let us see what we have inside. Getting access has taken so much time, I am impatient to see what is inside."

"You're welcome," Daria deadpanned.

The four explorers moved carefully into the room. Darren and Shamus carried lights to illuminate the space. The lights proved unnecessary, however, since bright lighting came on once they were inside. Still, the space was cramped.

Daria exclaimed, "Well, at least something works in here! I am surprised the power source is still good after all these centuries. When I was viewing the feed from the 'bug' there were some blue lights off to the right."

Darren commented, "There is certainly plenty of equipment in here and several things that appear to be displays of some type. However, everything is either off or there is simply no power to operate it. I guess that is hardly surprising."

Anton walked off to the right with Shamus in tow. They quickly came to the space with the blue lights. He and Shamus started examining the wall which was divided into rectangles. Each rectangle clearly had two lights, which also seemed to be buttons. Of the sixteen rectangles, only three still had a blue lighted button. The others were dark.

"Daria, come over here," Anton stated. "I need your translations."

Daria walked over and looked at the wall. She quickly pulled up the translations and displayed them in her visor, She then shared them with Anton and Shamus.

"This is interesting," Shamus remarked. "These seem to be hierarchical positions." Pointing to a dark rectangle he said, "This one says 'deputy' on it. Of course we do not completely understand their ship's hierarchy. I didn't request that level of detail from Marcipor."

Darren arrived and commented, "Well, I guess we simply need to deal with the age old question: Do we press one of these buttons?"

"If we look at human literature," Daria deadpanned,"Pushing one of the buttons could result in nothing happening, some monster being released, or our own hideous deaths. Most likely the latter."

Smiling inside his helmet Anton exclaimed, "Daria, are you sure you are not at least part Russian?"

"Sorry, Anton," she replied. "German and English with maybe some Czech thrown in. Not to mention American by birth and upbringing."

"Pity. With your boundless optimism you would make a good Russian."

"Why Anton, have you been learning sarcasm from me?"

Anton chuckled, "No Daria. I am simply a realist. What is it you say? 'Being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't all out to get you.' Or something like that."

"Close enough, Anton."

Anton's tone turned very serious. "I am pressing this button here. Hopefully it will not result in our hideous deaths."

Anton reached out and pressed the glowing blue button on the lowest of the still active rectangles. The group waited.

The light in the blue button started blinking. In about 30 seconds the color changed from blue to white and one of three other lights came on. It took another minute before the second light came on and then about two minutes later the third. The group could only stand around and watch. Other than lights blinking and coming on, nothing else seemed to happen. There were no sounds associated with the actions.

Suddenly, a hiss of gas was heard and the rectangle fell open. A container slid from the opening. When the group peered down into it they were amazed.

 _30.3_

The being laying there in the box had its eyes wide open and was breathing. It was clearly one of the aliens that had produced Marcipor and this ship. It was clothed in what Daria would call a green jumpsuit. She wondered, 'Were jumpsuits alien technology?'

Shamus stepped up and said in the alien's language, "We are here to help you. What is your name?"

The best way Daria could describe his response was that he said his name was 'Arnisan.' She ran the name through her database Marsipor had provided. 'Arnisan' came back as a somewhat unusual name for males of this species. The meaning of the name was 'detail oriented.' It was also the name of an ancient line of rulers in their civilization. She could not tell if the look on Arnisan's face was one of relief, puzzlement, or sheer terror.

Arnison said something to Shamus. Shamus replied, "A thousand Earth years."

Arnison shook his head. Then he started to get out of the container. Shamus and Anton assisted him.

Once standing Arnison looked around. Then he looked at the wall. He just stood for a moment and then leaned against it with his hands spread out. His body shuddered several times. Then he said something.

Shamus translated for the group, "He said, 'They are all dead. Only two remain." Then Shamus turned to the alien and said, "We can rescue you and the others. We will take you to our colony back on Mars."

After Shamus made his statement Arnison turned to him and said, "Thank you." Then Arnison reached out and pressed the two remaining lighted buttons." The waking sequence began for each.


	31. Chapter 31: Rescue

**Chapter 31: Rescue**

As a safety precaution Daria, Shamus, Anton, and Darren had brought with them "rescue balls." These were inflatable containers that could hold about two hours of air. In the case of a major suit breach or other emergency they would be able to crawl into the balls and breathe. Then a rescuer would attach a line to the rescue ball and haul it to safety. They now planned to use these with the newly awakened aliens.

Arnison was now joined by a female alien, Jaricon, and another male, Sazer. The four astronauts and three aliens just stood there and looked at each other. This lasted almost two minutes before Shamus engaged his translator. This next conversation would be well beyond his minimal grasp and vocabulary in the alien language. The translator was an application derived from the phone translators on Earth where one person could speak, for example, English on one end and the other person would hear it in their own language, say Russian. These programs had been introduced in the mid-2020's and had spurred international commerce. Marcipor had assisted with programming this one. Fortunately, there were a few phones on Mars, which people had brought with them.

"My name is Shamus," Shamus began. "As I am sure you can tell, we are humans from Earth. We now have a colony on Mars. We discovered your base on Mars and appreciate the technological help that your artificial intelligence has provided to us. We spotted your wreckage while testing the warp drive. Now we would like to take you back to Mars. We have emergency rescue equipment that will allow us to transport you back to our ship."

"I am Arnison. Chief engineer. Before we go," Arnison said. "We must be sure there are no living people on the ship. Since there is no main power, then anyone surviving like us must be in a sleep drawer. There are several chambers similar to this one. There it would be possible to enter the sleep state and extend one's life. Also, I need to download the ship's memory to try and determine what happened. The entire incident lasted only a very few minutes!"

"Very well," Shamus replied. "However, we have at most two hours before we must load you into the rescue devices and have a safety factor while taking you back to our ship. Also, we can fit the three of you into our craft. If there are more, then leave them sleeping and we can return to get them later."

"Before we use your rescue devices," Arnison said,"We should see if our own spacesuits are functional and will hold pressure. If so, then it may extend our time to search this ship."

Shamus stated, "Agreed. Tell us how we can assist you."

Over the next hour the seven people worked on locating and testing alien spacesuits. Through the translator in Shamus' suit Anton asked many technical questions. Anton's main motivation was to determine whether or not weapons were integrated into the suits. Arnison answered most of the questions. There were no weapons and the suits did not appear to amplify the strength of the wearer. Anton was satisfied that the suits were safe to bring aboard the Explorer. He was also pleased that all of the power systems on the ship appeared to be dead. He was happy to rescue these aliens, but Anton wanted no surprises.

With the aliens now in their spacesuits, it was time to search for other survivors. The fiber optic cable from the probe was used to hold a conference call with Tom and Darren aboard the Explorer. It was decided that the search would be conducted by two teams. Each would have one alien and two humans. The remaining alien, Jaricon, would stay in the chamber where the aliens were found and monitor communications within their ship, and get help from the Explorer if needed. The search would have to end in two hours and everyone would then get aboard the Explorer. There were six chambers to be searched.

 _31.2_

Daria thought she could feel every hair on her body stand as they walked through the levels of this ship. In a word, it was creepy. The only light was from either the helmet mounted lights on the humans' spacesuits or the handheld lantern carried by Arnison.

Springing to her mind was the night back in high school when she walked over to Jane's house with aliens on her mind. She remembered seeing the strange lights in the park across from Jane's house. She remembered being scared out of her wits when Arnie the pizza delivery guy came to the door with a pizza that Trent had ordered. Wow. Arnie. Arnison. Was there a connection? Was that creepy ginger guy just an alien with good makeup? If so, then why was he delivering pizza? Besides, by that point the aliens had been floating out here for over 900 years. This assumes, of course, that they had not left a colony on Earth! But then, they said that they had all left. Too bad she couldn't talk to Jane about this – at least not right now.

Daria realized that she was straggling a bit. So she picked up her pace. The gravity covers for their boots that Marcipor had showed them how to fabricate were very handy. They produced only about five percent of Earth gravity, but that was enough that with careful footwork they could walk along these corridors in the ship and not have to worry about floating off somewhere. The main thing was to move foot to foot without pushing off using too great a force.

As Daria hurried along she suddenly felt something hit her from behind. Spinning, she used just a bit too much force and floated up. As she made a half circle she came eye to eye with a dead alien. The alien's eyes were frozen wide open and stared lifelessly into Daria's helmet. The face showed the distinctive checkered pattern of death from decompression.

Daria screamed. Her thought, just before bouncing off the ceiling, was that she was glad that there was a highly absorbent pad in the suit. She came down onto the deck without much force, but enough that she felt it as she landed on her hands and knees. At least her feet were again in contact with the floor, so she could get up.

Hearing Daria scream and seeing her hit the floor Anton shouted, "Daria are you alright?" He then rushed over to help her. He gave the dead alien a shove and it floated back down the corridor.

"I'm fine, though I will probably need a couple of painkillers to sleep tonight. And this suit will need a new pad. Even in zero gravity a fall can be uncomfortable. At least I didn't break a hip!"

"Thank God for that. Come on, we have one more room to check. Then we can start back to Explorer."

Anton walked over to Arnison, who had just opened the door to the room possibly containing survivors. The two walked in together while Daria stayed outside. The procedure was that one person would remain outside each room, just in case the others would become trapped. Someone was available to go for help. In this group's case Daria had her portable cutting torch with her.

Upon entering, Arnison immediately walked over to the bank of sleep drawers. Turning to the others he said, "These are all empty. The only one with someone in it is Kazira's. I assume it is her, since she clearly wired the power units from three other chambers into hers."

Daria looked at the other aliens. Nonverbal communication was critical among humans. She had not known whether this was true among other intelligent species or not, in particular these aliens. Arnison's last statement answered her question. she saw Sazer roll his eyes. Maybe some forms of nonverbal communication were unversal in the universe!

Anton turned to Arnison, "Unless you have another way, we will need to establish a pressurized space before you wake your colleague. That will take time and we will have to return to our ship in order to resupply our suits and get additional equipment."

"Agreed," Arnison replied. "Let's go."

Daria noted that Sazer nodded 'yes' very quickly when Arnison said, 'Let's go."

Both search groups made their way back to the entry spot and Jaricon joined them. They then followed the tether back to the Explorer.

 _31.3_

It was a bit tight aboard the Explorer. Everyone managed to sit around the small table. Tom had prepared some dinner, as soon as he had quizzed the aliens about what Earth foods they could eat. Everything they had could be eaten by the aliens, so Tom had quickly whipped up pasta and meatballs in a tomato sauce covered with cheese. He also had made rolls. They sat and conversed with the aliens through the translator and Arnison.

Darren remarked to Anton, "We can get through tomorrow, but by adding a fourth person the following morning we will run out of food. More importantly, we are down to two days of air and water. So, anything you want to do you need to do tomorrow. With that fourth person we will have to leave after breakfast the following morning. We should be back on Mars by lunchtime, but oxygen and water will be quite low. Certainly less than we allow as a safety margin."

"We would like to complete our task and leave as soon as possible," Arnison said.

Daria asked, "So what is it about you colleague Kazira that you do not like?"

Arnison looked at Daria and replied, "Kazira is a fine colleague and member of the crew. She is a hard worker and very intelligent."

For the first time Jaricon piped up saying, "It's just that she never, ever shuts up! Her mouth is always running. She talks to herself when she is thinking. She talks to herself whenever she is engaged in a task. She even talks to herself when she eats! Then there are the times when she talks to the rest of us. If you are working with her on a task she is always talking! If it was up to me I would leave her asleep, though she is probably talking even in her sleep!

Now Sazer spoke, "You exaggerate Jaricon! She doesn't talk while she is asleep."

Jaricon interrupted and looked at the humans around the table, "Maybe we could use one of your rescue balls and just leave her in there!"

"You two both exaggerate," Arnison said. "You will give our rescuers the wrong impression about someone they have not even met!"

The humans couldn't help but laugh at this interchange. Anton was the one to say, "We have all known people like that too. I hope that it is an indication that maybe our species are not so different from one another."

Looking at Anton, Arnison stated, "We are alike in many ways, though we are not as well developed or talented in the arts as you humans. We tend to be very simple and utilitarian. Your writing, music, and graphic arts are things we much admire. We wish we were so creative in that way."

"Thank you for the compliments," Tom said. "We are impressed by your technology and advanced artificial intelligence. Perhaps as we clean up after dinner and make sleeping arrangements we should play some music that is considered high art on Earth. It came about 700 years after you left."

"That would be very welcome," Arnison replied.

Looking up, Tom said, "Explorer. Play Mozart's Jupiter symphony."

A disembodied voice replied, "Playing Mozart's Jupiter symphony." Then the music started.


	32. Chapter 32: Talker

**Chapter 32: Talker**

The day had been long and really boring so far. It seemed totally incongruous to Daria that waking a sleeping alien should be something that made it so hard for her to keep her eyes open! Still, all of the steps had to be performed if they were going to wake Kazira.

The day had been spent first sealing off an area which could then be pressurized. Once that was complete, the pressure and gas mixture was brought up to the level of their spacesuits. While this could have allowed the Earth crew to remove their helmets and/or gloves this was not the case. They would stay in their spacesuits so that should there be a decompression they would not die. The aliens stayed in their own suits as well. It had been a long 6 hours.

Anton carried the "recovery ball" that would be used to rescue Kazira and bring her back to Explorer. Once on board she would be able to get out and walk around. They needed to head back to Mars as quickly as possible. The amount of oxygen on board their ship sufficient for everyone, but only for so long.

Arnison pressed the button to bring Kazira out of her long sleep. Displays showed information. Specific lights came on. It took almost five minutes before the container slid from its storage unit with a whoosh. Apparently, there was some pressure difference between the unit and the space with everyone else.

Daria was struck by Kazira's beauty. Other than the natural pallor of her skin, she had simply amazing features and hair as red as Daria's sister Quinn when she was a teenager. Daria's thought was that top models would hate this woman. She was more beautiful than they were by far! Daria's opinion of the aliens were that their features were certainly within the normal range of human features. Change their skin color and they probably most resembled people around the Mediterranean. Was this a coincidence? Some DNA testing might answer that – assuming the aliens had DNA.

It took another ten minutes before Kazira opened her eyes. They were a beautiful azure blue. She lay there and breathed deeply as the mechanism that had kept her in place retracted. Then she was free.

Kazira suddenly sat up and started talking, "Wow! That was an incredible experience. I can't believe that I actually dreamed while in suspended animation. I saw myself on Earth. I was by a clear blue lake in the mountains. The trees had all turned those beautiful colors that they do on Earth. And on top of that there was snow gently drifting down. Somehow I had gotten separated from the rest of our exploration party. But, I did see some smoke in the distance."

Kazira's voice was playing in Daria's helmet. Along with that she could see a written translation of what was being said. Anton had not told her that he had put microphones where he could pick up the aliens' conversations nor that he had hooked in a translator program to keep all the humans informed about what was being said. But, sometimes Anton's paranoia was a worthwhile thing!

"Kazira," Arnison exclaimed. "Get out of that container and come over here. We are being rescued and you need to get into this rescue vessel."

"Who's rescuing us? Did it take a hundred years to get someone here? Am I the last person you are awakening?"

Just as Kazira was taking a breath to keep talking Arnison interrupted and quickly stated, "We have been asleep for a thousand years. Our new human friends happened onto our ship and have been good enough to offer to take us back to Mars. Now get in this rescue vessel!"

Kazira's mouth dropped open and she said in almost a whisper – as if only her people could hear, "You mean we are being rescued by pinkies?! They don't plan on eating us do they?"

Arnison gave Kazira a hard look, "First, that is not a very nice thing to call the people who are saving our lives. Second, they have made some progress in the past thousand years. They assure me we are not on their dinner menu! Now get in this ball!"

As she stood, stretched and walked over to the rescue ball Kazira's beauty and figure really shocked Daria. The members of the fashion club could have only dreamed of being this gorgeous so many years ago. Daria watched as Kazira stepped into the rescue ball and Arnison closed it. Anton moved forward and they secured it to themselves with tethers to avoid any chance of losing it as they moved back to Explorer. Looking in the window of the ball, Daria could swear she saw Kazira's lips moving.

 _32.2_

Getting Kazira back to the ship was quite a chore. They had to depressurize the space they were in and tear down the makeshift pressure barrier. Daria got to do most of the work removing the barrier and then she watched as Anton and Arnison moved the rescue ball carefully through the corridor, avoid jagged metal with the possibility of rupturing the ball, and then finally moving past ragged edges and out into open space along the line connecting their ship with the alien ship.

Jaricon was waiting in the airlock as the men approached with Kazira. Through the face shield it looked to Daria like she was laughing. Admittedly, Kazira was quite a sight curled up in that ball with her mouth still going as if she was delivering a lecture. Still, it was clearly hilarious to Jaricon. Daria also surmised that the two women might not be on the best of terms. Was it possible that aliens could behave like humans and make any social group a repeat of high school? Daria was a bit puzzled that her beauty didn't make Kazira one of the "cool kids."

Jaricon stepped out into space – connected to the tether line, of course. This allowed Arnison, Anton, and Kazira to cycle through the airlock first. Daria set her communications program to connect with Jaricon alone.

"Were you laughing as those two guys approached with Kazira in the ball?"

"Yes," Jaricon replied. "You have to know Kazira to appreciate how funny this looks"

"Really," Daria commented.

"Kazsira has it all. Beauty. Brains, Strength. And yet she has two real flaws: in her mind she must always be in control and secondly she never, ever shuts up. She also doesn't filter her statements well. She just says whatever pops into her mind. That sometimes gets her in trouble in our organizational structure."

Daria commented, "Thus she wasn't thinking when she called us 'Pinkies.' It sounded like a derogatory term."

"Let me apologize to you on her behalf, Daria. Yes, it is derogatory. It is a term referring to people from the continent of Europe. There are similar terms for people on each of the continents. Still, even when we left there the Europeans had some of the best technology and organizations on the planet, though the Chinese were quickly surpassing them."

As they were talking the outer airlock door opened and the two women pulled themselves into it. Daria reached over and disconnected the tether line to the alien ship. The door closed and they could hear the hiss of air as it pressurized. When the light turned green they stepped into the ship and removed their helmets.

 _32.3_

Anton and Arnison were working on getting Kazira out of the rescue ball. At this point there was no issue with her suffocating. Still, getting her out seemed to be much more difficult that getting her in. Sazer had gone over to try and help.

Daria and Jazira removed their spacesuits and walked over. Daria noticed that Darren was already going through the pre-flight checklist. They were getting near the limits on their consumables, particularly with the extra people. They needed to get underway.

Finally, the opening yielded and Kazira stepped out of the ball. "Wow that thing is confining!" she stated. "I had my knees under my chin. I don't think I have been that uncomfortable in all my life." Turning to Anton she said, "You really should do something about this thing. It was terribly uncomfortable."

"Sorry," Anton said. "It is designed for humans as a last resort in rescues. Perhaps it doesn't fit your physiology well. At any rate it was certainly better than being left in the box over in your derelict ship!"

"I guess it was OK," Kazira said. "Still, you should look carefully at the design. What if someone needed to spend long hours in that thing! Just look at my hair! It is worse than when I got up out of the box!"

Daria stepped in and looked straight at Kazira. She stated in total deadpan, "You need sit and get buckled into your seat now. We have to go in order to make it to Mars in a reasonable amount of time. As it is, we are low on consumables – like oxygen! Now get going. That is an order."

Apparently the translator worked quite well in this instance. Kazira sat in her seat and buckled in. For once she didn't even say anything. That didn't last long, however. She soon started whispering to Jaricon.

Daria turned her attention to the front. Anton and Darren were just finishing the pre-flight check list. It was finally time to go.

Anton inquired in his best command voice, "Reactor status?" Everything sounded more like an order than a question.

Darren replied, "Running and nominal."

Anton ordered, "Shields on."

Darren replied, "Roger, shields on."

Anton asked, "Warp status?"

Darren replied, "Nacelles on idle."

Anton inquired, "Thrusters?"

Darren said, "Thrusters charged and ready."

Anton asked, "Inertial dampers and artificial gravity?"

Darren replied, "Inertial dampers are online and we are at Martian standard gravity."

Anton asked, "Course for Mars laid in?"

Darren replied, "Aye aye, sir. Course is laid in and ready. The ship is ready for departure."

Anton ordered, "Move us away from the derelict ship on thrusters, then when ready execute our course home. Set speed at 2 C."

Darren replied, "Moving on thrusters."

With the inertial dampers online there was little perception of movement as the craft moved away from the derelict ship and the floating bodies and debris. Daria watched on her screen. It took about 10 minutes for Darren and the navigation computer to get them clear of the debris field.

Darren stated, "We are clear of the debris field and are ready for warp drive."

Anton replied, "Engage."

Darren pressed a button and the navigation computer took over. It energized the idling nacelles and the ship rapidly accelerated to twice the speed of light. He stated, "Navigation shows that we should reach Mars in about two and a half hours. Touchdown in three hours."

Anton turned his seat to those behind him, "You can move about the ship now. We have water to drink and there is still some food in the galley. If you do not want plain water, I think there is still tea there as well."

"Got any Martian Moonshine?" Daria asked.

Anton chuckled, "Not on this mission. But I will happily drink with you once we are back on Mars! We can drink it straight up like you would good vodka!"

Daria chuckled, and then stood up to stretch her legs. A cup of tea did not sound like a bad idea right now.

 _32.4_

Daria stood with Jaricon and each had a mug of tea in their hands. She said, " Did I ever tell you that you look quite good for someone over a thousand years old?"

"Why thank you. Most of my family barely lives to be over 100. I attribute my longevity to hard work and getting plenty of sleep!"

Both laughed as Daria responded, "I am sure that explains it. What I don't understand is how your ship became disabled in the first place."

Adopting a serious tone Jaricon said, "It is a mystery to me as well. We should not have ventured into a debris field like that. Even with shields it is asking for trouble. I frankly question whether or not the shields were even on! The damage was so extreme. And the lost lives! We are really in pain over the loss of our friends, families, and colleagues. It is almost like someone planned this. But, who could do such a monstrous thing? One thing I did while we were on the ship is download the logs and ship's data from the time we changed course to explore the debris field until the ship's systems collapsed from damage and loss of power."

"How were you able to get them if there was no power?" Daria inquired.

"Easy," Jaricon said. Once Kazira was out of her sleep chamber, I simply took the power input and connected it to the nearest computer access point. There was plenty of power, since she had three chamber power units connected to her chamber. That allowed power to flow and I could get my queries answered. Once we are back on Mars, I can study the data and come to a conclusion."

"If you need assistance, then let me know. As the colony librarian I am responsible for acquiring and keeping all of the information collected by the colony. I am really more of an archivist than a librarian."

Jaricon looked puzzled then exclaimed, "Well, the translator gave me the same word for both of you occupations. Can you clarify for me?"

Daria replied, "The first is a keeper of books and other records. The second goes beyond that to, in some cases, directly acquiring the information and even artifacts. For example, I am here to record our first contact with your people and the rescue of survivors from your ship. Thus, I have not only acquired information, but pieces of the ship, images, and video as well. It is important for an archivist to preserve the context as well as the information."

"I think I understand," Jaricon said.

"What I had in mind is that we have procedures for investigating major accidents and disasters. If use of our procedures would be helpful, then I can get you information on how we proceed. One of the important steps in the process is that when a consensus had been reached by the investigation team they hold a public presentation of the results to close out the investigation."

"Very interesting. I thank you and I will certainly give this some thought."

Daria had the opportunity to talk to all of the rescued aliens. Her last conversation was with Kazira.

Kazira looked at Daria and asked – Daria would have said blurted out, "So why is it that everyone here seems to be so old for humans? You must be over 50 yourself. Aren't you too weak and feeble to be able to take on such a long mission? I'm surprised you people have the mental capacity remaining, not to mention the physical stamina, to do all of this. How were you chosen? Wouldn't young people have been a better choice? I mean look at you. Your subcutaneous collagen has broken down. Though you do not lose your strength as fast as your human males, nevertheless you wind up with those floppy upper arms and all those wrinkles! Even your breasts sag, though I guess that is not such a big deal since you must have long ago ceased to be capable of bearing children."

Daria was rapidly starting to understand why Kazira irritated even her own people. This woman has no filter! "Kazira, stop talking a minute."

Surprisingly, Kazira stopped talking.

Daria took a breath. "There are some things I need to explain to you. First, the average life expectancy for humans when you left Earth was around 40 to 45 years. Half the children died before reaching adulthood and there were no effective cures for common diseases. Today the average person can expect to live at least until their late 80s. If you reach age 65, then it is highly likely that you will see age 90. Most children live to adulthood and very few women die in childbirth. If you look at diseases that result in death most are associated with longevity. We have treatments and even cures for diseases and conditions that didn't even have names when you departed."

"Well that is good," Kazira commented.

"Then there is the matter of the age of the people you see here and in our colony. Initially, you had to be at least 60 and in good health to be part of the colony. Why you ask? Well, there was considerable concern about the effects of radiation on the human body. Specifically, that radiation exposure can drastically increase the cancer risk in 30 years. Since the remaining life expectancies of 60 year old colonists are generally 30 years or less we are the perfect choices. Radiation exposure will not likely cause us to die of cancer before we die of something else."

Kazira stared at Daria, "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"As for your observations about my body and those of my colleagues, well what you say is the truth. However, it is considered very bad manners to point out someone's unattractive physical attributes – which includes the effects of aging. We like to think of ourselves as healthy and attractive, at least to others our own age. I haven't looked like I was in my 20s since I was 35. However, my husband Tom and I are very satisfied with how we look to each other at this age. We first met in our teens and married in our 20s. We have been together and shared most of our lives. The fact that we no longer look like young adults is immaterial to us."

"I am sorry if I have given offense," Kazira said.

"I forgive you," Daria responded. "But, you need to be careful what you say to humans and how you say it."

"I will remember. So, then when did you develop the faster than light drive system? I realize it has been a thousand Earth years since we left. Still, such a development is quite consequential."

"Actually, we didn't develop it. We got it from you. We found your cave headquarters and your artificial intelligence systems were activated. One of them, who calls himself 'Marcipor,' gave us the detailed plans and instructions on how to do the drive, shields, anti-gravity, and artificial gravity."

Anton called from the front, "Get into your seats and buckle in. We are approaching Mars and will be landing soon."

Everyone went to their seats and got ready. As Daria sat down she could hear Kazira talking – endlessly – to the other aliens. Daria would be capturing data on their approach, so she really didn't have time to hear what was being said.

 _32.5_

Anton spoke loudly and clearly. "Orbital injection in 10 seconds. We are going sub-light."

Daria felt a slight pulling on her seatbelt straps and for a fraction of second there was a feeling of disorientation. But then her attention was fully on her screen. It showed the slowing of their craft and its entry into an orbit around Mars. After going around the planet twice, the orbit would decay and they would reenter the atmosphere.

A short time later she heard Anton say, "Atmospheric entry in 10 seconds."

Daria's screen went blank as their craft hit the atmosphere. All power was being diverted to the shields. Clearly, since they were not already dead, the shields were holding, the intense heat was being dissipated away from the ship, and the inertial dampers were keeping the occupants from being squashed by the forces at work.

She heard Anton say, "Heat is dissipating. Begin diverting power to the anti-gravity system."

It was sort of like hitting a speed bump when the shipboard gravity was turned off. They were now close enough to the planet that the artificial gravity was no longer needed. Inertial dampers had also been powered off. Now the main power consumer was the anti-gravity system, which would slow them to nearly a complete stop.

"Activate thrusters and bring us to a hover over the landing pad," Anton commanded. Darren executed his order, though in reality much of his job as pilot was to monitor the computer to make certain that all was well with the flight as programmed.

Daria's screen came back to life. She could see the surface and the landing pad, which were only about 100 meters (330 ft) below them. Their craft was descending slowly and Darren had just extended the four landing legs. At this point she expected that the computer was flying the craft and would bring them to a soft landing. She was right.

Anton unbuckled and stood up. He made certain his translator was on. "Welcome back to Mars! We have landed at the Aries colony. Everyone needs to put on a surface suit or if you do not have a surface suit, then a spacesuit. We will be exiting the craft and will be met by colonists, who will walk with us to the quarantine building. We will be going to the quarantine area, since we do not know if there are pathogens which could make either species sick. We will be confined there for 2-3 weeks until the scientists and doctors are convinced we can be with the rest of the population. I am told that certain changes have been made to the area, so it will be more comfortable than before and we can have some decent meetings! I have also ordered a couple of bottles of Martian Moonshine. We will toast our return at dinner tomorrow! Now get going!"

Daria was truly surprised as she descended the stairs and started walking from the landing pad to the quarantine building. Many of her friends and colleagues were out in surface suits and waiving at her and the others. There were even signs welcoming them back to the colony and welcoming the aliens they rescued. The outpouring of excitement was far more than she had imagined!

Once inside everyone got out of their surface and spacesuits. The group walked together to a new glassed area where they were greeted by Mia and other senior officials – on the other side of the glass. Mia kept it short and the two personnel inside with them, wearing biohazard suits, showed them to their quarters and provided details on the showers and other personal hygiene areas.

After a long day and an exciting mission it was finally time to go to sleep. In bed Daria rolled over and kissed Tom.

Tom smiled at her and said, "We've come a long way from Lawndale, haven't we?"

"No kidding," Daria replied. Then she rolled over and sleep came immediately.


	33. Chapter 33: Low Tech

**Chapter 33:** **Low Tech**

Arnison and Mia removed the helmets of their surface suits. Arnison looked around and was quite impressed with the space.

"This is the prototype of what we call a 'HOOCH'," Mia remarked. "We have located these as supplied stopover points scattered across the surface. It allows us to extend the range of our exploration and provides comfortable shelter outside of our vehicles."

Arnison replied, "I can see how this would be of great benefit in exploring this planet! We never really did that much exploration of Mars. Out mission and interest was on Earth. We just used Mars as a convenient base."

"Then you have missed much," Mia quipped. "We would be happy to share our information with you about Mars. It is quite fascinating."

"We would appreciate that," Arnison said. "Now tell me more of this place."

"As I said, this was the prototype for our 'HOOCHes.' Since this is so close to our main colony I have had it refitted as a 'retreat.'

"Would you explain what you mean by 'retreat?' The translator says that you would come here if you were losing a military battle! Surely from what you have already said that is not the purpose."

"Not at all," Mia chuckled. "By 'retreat' I mean that it is a place I can get away with my senior staff for an uninterrupted, extended meeting. For the uninterrupted part, I have had this place modified so that it has no communication with the outside. That way we can meet and people are not being distracted by messages. This is particularly useful for planning. There are also no recording devices here. This allows people to speak 'off the record' and not feel inhibited about saying directly what they are thinking."

Arnison was nodding, "Yes. Yes. I can see how that would be useful."

Mia went on, "The only outside link is an emergency button. It is entirely analog and cannot be used to transmit data. If pressed, then a rescue team will be here within minutes."

"That is good."

"This place is not just for my use. Anyone in the colony can use it, so long as they reserve it through my office. Given what you wanted to discuss, I thought that this would be the right place. Now, can I get you a cup of tea?" Mia offered.

 _33.2_

Mia sat looking at Arnison. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I wish I was joking," Arnison replied. "However, I have spent the past two weeks having daily conversations with Unit 38 or 'Marcipor' as he is now calling himself."

"Things still do not add up," Mia stated. "You shut down your systems when you left. He should have been dormant like any other computer program until he was reactivated. How could he have been running for over a millennium and not either run out of power, had a software crash, or just put himself on standby? Sorry, English is difficult when it comes to referring to objects and disembodied intelligences. This is assuming Marcipor is really intelligent and not just mimicking."

"I think what happened, but I can't be certain, is that someone chose to stay behind. Daria has told me that you have not performed a thorough search of our complex. Someone could certainly have died in there and you would not know it. When we left the intent was to send a smaller group of observers to the post within a very few years. With the wreck of our ship we never made it home for the next group to be sent."

"So why didn't your people send a search party for you? Wouldn't the accident have triggered a homing beacon of some type so that at least searchers could engage in a recovery mission?"

"I am puzzled as well. You are right. When we were overdue there should have been a search party sent out. That party would have looked for our distress beacon. This is why the facts just don't seem to add up. Now if there was no beacon, then finding us would be nearly impossible. Your solar system is a big place and finding our ship amongst all of the planets, moons, the surfaces of all of the objects from here to the end of your solar system, not to mention all of the debris, is simply unlikely if not impossible. Furthermore, since I am not the captain I have no direct knowledge of why we entered Uranus' rings."

"I take it that the logs you have been reviewing have not shed any light on that."

"No. The logs are somewhat fragmented. There was enough damage to the computing system that they are not complete. I do not have the order to deviate from the original flight path, but I do have the record of the navigation computer executing the change."

"Hmm," was Mia's reaction. "You don't have any personal memory of being told that you were deviating from your flight path and why?"

"None," Arnison replied. "I remember going about my duties. There was nothing out of the ordinary until we were struck by the first piece of rock in the rings."

Mia pondered what Arnison had said. "So, what you are telling me is that your ship deviated from its flight path. No one was made aware of this in advance. The computer logs show the change but not the order. And I would suggest that your shields must have been down in order for the debris to hit you. Furthermore, your forward sensing had to be either inoperable or intentionally turned off."

Arnison nodded. "Yes, we are of the same mind when it comes to the basic facts of the situation at the moment."

"Let me ask you this very directly," Mia stated. "How does your society regard suicide? It looks to me like someone intentionally crashed your ship. My initial guess would be either the Captain or the Helmsman.

"A couple of thoughts," Arnison replied after a moment's reflection. "To us suicide is unthinkable. It is deeply taboo and our children are taught about the great value of life from their youngest days. We have professionals who help people having great personal difficulties. Furthermore, murder and suicide are viewed much the same. Suicide is seen as murder of the self. Someone intentionally destroying the ship would not only bring shame on themselves, but their family and clan – not to mention our religious views on the consequences. Most likely their entire clan would be shunned by other clans for a hundred years, because they allowed such a criminal to come from their midst. In our society clans are responsible for care and consequences of behavior."

Mia smiled. "I would love nothing more than to gain insight into your society and help you understand how our societies have changed over the last thousand years. But, we have this situation to investigate."

"You are right."

Mia's face grew very serious. "So, I am guessing that you have eliminated your colleagues as possible causes of the wreck?"

Arnison nodded again, "Yes. They are neither inclined nor were they in positions capable of carrying out such a thing."

"You realize where this is leading," Mia said. "It is leading to the conclusion that it was not a person or persons causing the ship to be wrecked, but rather the computers. That an artificial intelligence (AI) did it. An AI essentially committed suicide and one of those AIs is sitting in my colony with access to my computer systems. Furthermore, it is well within this AI's capability – Marcipor's capability – to reprogram my computers to do what it wants to do."

Arnison nodded, 'Correct. I would add that if you have AIs already running, then he can improve them in order to bring them close to his level."

Mia sighed, "Thus an insane and possibly suicidal AI – if he is insane and suicidal – could already be well on the way to running all of the systems of our colony."

"Precisely," Arnison said. "As strange as it seems, since we are talking about a computer program, I think that having run for a thousand years Unit 38 has become insane and possibly suicidal. Furthermore, I think that something brought this about in other AI units prior to our departure. Over the long time alone with only the collective computer memories for input Unit 38 succumbed to the same unknown flaw which affected the other units. We need to turn Unit 38 off as soon as possible or he may wreck your colony just as another unit may have wrecked our ship."

Mia let silence reign for nearly a minute after hearing what Arnison said. Then she said to him, "It could even be much worse. He has said he wants to go to Earth. Can you imagine what would happen if he gained control of Earth's computing systems?"

"I do not want to imagine that," Arnison replied. "I think we made a collective mistake when we gave AIs too much general intelligence. They are good for very specific purposes, but may be too flawed to be endowed with general intelligence at a level of consciousness and self-awareness.

Mia responded, "We need a plan and we have to keep it off of all computing and recording devices. That is why we are meeting here. We also need to keep the number of people involved to a minimum to ensure the security of the information."

 _33.3_

Mia looked around at her senior staff as they came in and took their seats. These people knew more about colonizing another planet than any other human beings who ever existed. They were mostly scientists, engineers, and planners. With the exception of Anton and Erwin – and maybe herself – these were not people trained in scheming, plotting, and destroying. They were builders and even renovators. They were not ones to tear things down. Yet, that is exactly what she would be asking them to do and on top of that speak to no one – not even each other – about it or even record anything outside of this place. Any plan would have to be memorized and executed from memory. This was simply not the way humanity operated in the mid-21st century! Oh, and their information was coming from extraterrestrial aliens who they had rescued from a destroyed ship. Nothing unusual here! A good stiff drink made with Martian moonshine was looking better every minute.

Mia stood up and started, "I have asked all of you to the HOOCH retreat to discuss how we can decommission Marcipor or Unit 38 as he is known to our new friends." She nodded at Arnison, Kazira, and Jaricon. "The risks we take are that we do not act swiftly and Maricpor is able to use our systems against us. If we do nothing, then we risk that he will engage with systems back on Earth and start taking over there as well. Arnison tells me that Marcipor is insane from being alone for a thousand years. However, he is still a computer program and not a living being – though he may act much like one. The goal is to preserve his program and knowledge if possible. If not, then so be it. I am breaking you up into three teams. Each team will draft a plan and present it to the group. Then we will work from those toward a single coordinated plan to solve this problem." Mia read the list of names, who would chair each group, and then designated their working areas within the HOOCH.

As everyone divided up and went to their designated work areas, Daria quietly walked up to Mia. Almost whispering in her ear she said in total deadpan, "Mia, how do you know it is Marcipor that is insane and not our new friends who have been asleep for a thousand years?"

Mia leaned over and said quietly in Daria's ear, "I do not know 100% that this is true. However, Arnison has talked with Marcipor extensively since their arrival and this is his conclusion. Naturally I have recorded and translated those conversations. I used a non-connected device, so there was no way for Marcipor to access it. I have no reason to doubt him and his reasoning appears to be sound. Besides, Arnison and the others are biologicals just like us. They cannot control anything without equipment. You will notice that I have not issued them a full kit of equipment – in particular communications equipment. Their access to our computer systems is also limited. Now go work in your group, Daria."

"Yes'm," Daria replied and walked over to her group. Lucky her. She had Kazira in her group!

The next several hours were spent discussing possible solutions in the groups. Mia went from group to group and guided each to ensure that there were in fact three different approaches to present.

Daria noticed that in her group she was taking on a two-fold role. First, she was listening and trying to synthesize discrete courses of action based on the discussion. Secondly, and this was the most challenging, keeping Kazira on-track. Kazira had a distinct pattern of making an insightful suggestion or comment, but then elaborating into details that were irrelevant to the discussion.

Daria's mind wandered momentarily. If Kazira was stupid, then this would be like listening to Sandi from the Fashion Club back in high school prattle on about her ideas on fashion. That thought nearly brought on a wave of nausea! Then Daria recalled how Sandi had been killed about 15 years ago after being hit at high speed by a large truck carrying women's clothing for the largest discount store chain in the country! She died instantly. Her body was shattered. They picked her piece by piece out of her vehicle and put her in a plastic bag. Some kind of fashion! Her remains had been cremated at a chain mortuary. At least her husband had picked out a stylish urn. Quinn had gone to the memorial service and remarked that Sandi had once said that she wanted to be buried in her favorite evening gown. Daria could hear Jane saying, 'You know you are going to hell for thinking that is funny!' Well, it was actually sad that Sandi came to an end so opposite of her life, but you had to admit the irony in it!

Forcing herself back to reality, Daria had to admit that Kazira was clearly highly intelligent and appeared to know what she was talking about. Her grasp of the inner workings of AI systems theory was vast, as well as her understanding of how the AI systems translated their 'thoughts' into actions. This is something that Daria would need to report to Mia. Kazira could be the key to any plan they chose.

After what seemed like an endless expanse of time, each team prepared a presentation of their plan. Daria's group would go second. She was actually anxious to see what the others had developed.

The first group got up and made their presentation. Mia, Anton, and Arnison formed the evaluating team. The gist of the first plan was a frontal attack to destroy Marcipor. The plan was to set off an eltro-magnetic pulse (EMP) device in close proximity to Marcipor. It would destroy the electronics of Herman, the rebuilt and redesigned Groundfighter unit that Marcipor had taken over. It would also destroy any electronics in the the old habitat building that housed Marcipor. The habitat was already a Faraday box isolated from EMP of potential solar events. All they had to do was build such a device, isolate Marcipor from the computer networks, and then set off the device. The only real downside was that the EMP had to be strong enough to overcome the shielding they had built into Herman for regular surface exploration. A discussion followed identifying benefits and risks of the plan.

Then it was Daria's group's turn to present. It was Kazira that spoke first. She gave everyone present a basic lesson on how AIs connected to other computer systems and could even store part or all of their operating code as backups in totally unrelated storage units or even other AI programs. She ended saying that Marcipor may not be – and likely was not – the single entity that they saw as Herman. Rather this AI had probably stored itself in their systems and would reconstitute itself following the destruction of Herman. Thus, the problem was twofold. First, taking out the AI on Herman. Second, scrubbing Marcipor from their other systems. The one advantage they had was that the AI software was quite obvious and if all of the AI system was unable to reconstitute, then it would not be functional.

Daria got up next to present the history and schematic of the colony's power systems and computer systems. The systems were broadly divided into Power, Life Support, Agricultural Control, Internal Sensing, External Sensing, Networking and Communications, and Scientific and Research Computing. There were many subsystems and even crossovers.

Life Support had the least amount of general purpose computing. It had been designed to be serviceable in the field and relied heavily on components which were robust against solar events, fire, and potential electrical systems failures such as surges. Power was similar, since it included control of the nuclear reactor. Both systems passed information to Internal Sensing. The opposite end of the scale was Scientific and Research Computing. It was almost all general purpose computing and was readily accessible over several networks. The common denominator was that all major systems had links which could be physically disconnected. Acting somewhat like circuit breakers in an electrical power system, these links could be disabled or even physically pulled as blocks from their panels. In the event of a major cascading power failure or network failure these physical links allowed systems and subsystems to be isolated. That way the source of the failure could be found and other systems returned to service while the problem was resolved. In some ways it was ironic that a 21st century space colony was relying on some basic technology that was almost 150 years old to ensure that they survived under the worst of circumstances. Daria sat down.

Shamus got up and began presenting the plan, "Friends, we decided to give this plan a name. We call it 'The Exorcism.' Whether or not this hearkens to my life as a Catholic Priest I do not know. I came here as part of my life as a scientist. Now we are faced with this."

Continuing his presentation Shawn said, "A ruse is needed to give the colony the opportunity to shut down Marcipor. This means that we need to cutoff any means of escape. Earth has recently provided the perfect excuse. New power transformers arrived on the last supply load that are needed for further colony expansion. These need to be connected first to the reactor and then to the power grid. The ruse will be that the colony's power must be shut down in order to connect the new transformers. It is true, but we don't really need to do this now."

"Next, all physical and computer blocks will need to be pulled. Without the life support system the colony has about 8 hours of breathable air without using emergency backup systems. These are even more isolated and could extend the time to bring the systems back up to at least a couple of weeks. Conditions under the backups, however, will get to be cold and miserable fairly quickly."

"The main activity following Marcipor's deactivation will be sweeping all of the computer systems for programs or fragments of his code. Because of the nature of the systems Life Support as well as Power should be brought back fairly quickly – a couple of hours at most. Expect Scientific and Research Computing to be down for a week."

"As for Marcipor, there are distinct command structures built into the program. Kazira and Arnison can both access those commands. Properly executed these commands will essentially turn off Marcipor without destroying the program, its data, or the Herman device. Whoever goes in with Marcipor will also carry an EMP device on a timer to take Marcipor down if the command structure cannot be accessed. The disadvantage of this plan is that it is complex. However, we believe that it ensures a total shutoff and exorcises Marcipor from all of our systems." Shawn sat back down.

The discussion following this presentation took nearly an hour. Finally Mia stated, "OK. Enough discussion on this. Clearly it is complex. Let's hear from the final group."

The third group got up and began presenting their idea. They proposed overloading Marcipor with data. Their theory was that since there was a physical limit on the speed that the Herman unit could process data, therefore exceeding that speed would cause the unit's central peoxwaaie to shut down in order to protect itself. Once that happened the power could be shut off at the unit's main switch and the unit would cease to function. The plan seemed simple and straight forward, but in the discussion it came out that there was a significant chance that Marcipor could have altered the programming of the Herman unit and either reject the input of new data and/or move key functions to subsidiary processors and thus never be overloaded.

After a long day of discussions Mia stood up and announced, "The three of us need to meet and come to a decision. We will reconvene here tomorrow morning. At that time I will announce our decision and then we will move forward. Please remember that the topics of this meeting are secret. You are not to even discuss this with your spouses or say anything inside the habitat. We do not want Marcipor to find out about this. You have the cover story. Stick to it! Alright everyone, dismissed!"

Daria stood up and stretched. The weights she was wearing to get her body ready for Earth's gravity again felt like they were chafing a bit. Prolonged sitting didn't help her back or joints either. This getting old stuff was really a pain. Literally! Still, she walked over and took her surface suit off of the rack and put it on. Anton was putting his on next to her. They checked each other's seals and connections. Once that was all done they headed for the airlock to go back to the main habitat.

 _33.4_

Tom looked at Daria as they sat eating their dinner in the dining hall, "You are just picking at your food. I figured Mia's management meeting would leave you hungry and that you might even eat really fast tonight."

"No," Daria replied. "The gist of the meeting was that the colony is going to go through a major growth spurt over the next two years. By the end of that time we may even have a population of 500 and a significant number of permanent settlers."

"That is pretty amazing!" Tom responded. "We will have to build at least one new main habitat and maybe two if we are going to house that many people! What will quarters for the permanent settlers look like? There is a big difference between a 5 year camping trip and staying for the duration."

Daria chuckled, "No kidding. One of the big differences will be that many of the permanent settlers will be young people. Definitely 30 somethings. Maybe even some in their twenties. There will be children and the need for a school, not to mention eventually needing higher education as well."

Tom added, "With our new alien technology we can fabricate gravity plates so that the children of the settlers – or anyone else – won't be 'Mars bound' and never able to return to Earth."

Daria put down her knife and fork, leaned back and stated, "In just a few years you and I have seen the progress. We came over on something analogous to the Mayflower and we will return to Earth on a jetliner. We were the second wave to help scratch an encampment in this wilderness. Now we are on the cusp of becoming a real town. We were chosen to come because we are old enough that we will die from something other than the effects of radiation on Mars' surface. Now that problem has been mostly resolved and we can bring younger people here to stay."

"You speak the truth," Tom injected.

Sighing, Daria went on, "I will miss what has been essentially a senior community devoted to exploration. Our time here has been exciting. We may be old, but darn it we are wise! On top of that we have used our wisdom to overcome the challenges of living on a planet that would like nothing more than to kill us – and tries to do so every day!"

Tom laughed, "You know, Daria, I think you have a book hiding inside of you. You will need to write it when we get back to Earth. Besides, Lawndale won't be constantly trying to kill us!"

Daria had been taking a drink of tea when Tom said that. She finished and looked at him over the top of her cup and said in her total deadpan, "Death by boredom versus death from an unbreathable atmosphere and deep deep cold. You wind up the same either way." Daria cracked a half-smile.

Tom leaned forward and once again lost himself in his wife's deep brown eyes. "Lawndale was a great place to raise our kids. We both had good careers. And it has been nice to have the Sloane family resources. It made things easier for us. Not to mention we traveled a lot with the kids. They saw a significant part of the world by the time they graduated from high school."

Daria changed the subject, "Let's finish our dinners and just spend the evening in our quarters. I have had a long day and I want to go to bed early. I have part two of Mia's management meeting tomorrow. Who knows, maybe we will solve all the problems of mankind there."

They finished their dinners and headed off to their quarters.


	34. Chapter 34: BAM!

**Chapter 34: BAM!**

Daria stood by the electrical and network blocks for the Library. As soon as main power went out she would pull the network block. Then she would pull the electrical. It was just a few minutes ago that she had finished the complete archiving and backup processing she did every two weeks. Now all data was backed up and protected against everything from power loss to EMP. Still this all made her nervous. She had to concentrate and be ready. The backup power system would kick in three seconds after losing main power. That was how long she had to get this job done. Three seconds. Waiting.

At precisely 11:03 am main power was cut. Daria had each of her hands on a block. With her right hand she pulled the data block. With her left she pulled the electrical block. She was in a blackness that was total. There was no light at all. 'At least in space there are stars," she thought. The gentle white noise of the air circulation system was absent for the first time since she entered the main habitat. Again her mind wandered, 'This must be what it is like in a closed tomb.'

Forcing herself back to reality, Daria pulled her phone from her pocket. Without power and network the communication features of the phone were dead. She activated the light. Now at least she could see something. She took the five steps over to her desk and opened the bottom drawer. In the back she kept her emergency headlamp. She turned it on and placed the circular band over her head. 'Well,' she thought. 'This will certainly lead to a bad hair day! Maybe it won't last too long. I hope the others can get done what needs to be done quickly.'

Daria sat down at her desk and put her phone on top off it. The virtual display came up and she started reading a book she had saved on her phone. Just as she started she reflected how far technology had come in her life. She had started out reading paper books and that had progressed to reading books and other materials on a small flat screen. Now that same sized device created a hologram of a paper book in front of her that she could read at any angle. It looked like a paper book. She could even turn the pages!

While reading could help alleviate stress, this was a difficult and stressful time. Before diving into her book, Daria said a little prayer for her friends, Tom, and herself.

 _34.2_

Tom watched from the driver's seat in the rover as all the lights went out in the colony. He also saw the data link to the colony disappear. He had been out of range before, but never this close without any communication. He manually shut off the rover's data systems as soon as the colony lights went out.

Looking out the windshield he could see Darren across from him. They had parked the rovers nearly nose-to-nose so that they could use hand signals with each other as needed. Tom got up and checked the starboard side window. From his position on top of a slight rise he could see the crew working on the electrical systems adjacent to the main reactor. Immediately after cutting the power they had shifted the reactor to manual operation. Heat was now being dissipated to the atmosphere. Tom could see the waves of heat even in the thin atmosphere of Mars.

As he was watching there was a bright flash! Three of the men working on the job jumped on the fourth man, The fifth man started running toward the rovers waving his arms.

Tom jumped into the driver's seat and signaled to Darren that there was an emergency and he was going to move. Tom cranked the wheels of the rover and started driving the two hundred meters (220 yards) to the worksite. While driving he depressurized the airlock so that the men could get into the rover. Upon arriving Tom put on the helmet of his surface suit as a precaution.

Tom could hear the clanking on the bulkhead as the men were getting into the airlock. He assumed there was an injury, so he jumped out of the driver's seat and pulled down the emergency medical bed.

It seemed like forever, but it was about 90 seconds before the inside door of the airlock opened and four of the five men working on the electrical system came in and laid a fifth man on the bed. Tom recognized Luigi the chief electrical technician and first Italian on Mars.

Thomas, one of the four who carried Luigi, said, "Where are the scissors? We need to cut off the bottom of this suit if we are going to save him. Tom, get his helmet off now. Give him a dose of pain killer and start him on some oxygen." Thomas turned and grabbed a tool box and stuck it under Luigi's ankles to elevate his legs. One of the other men found a blanket and carefully placed it over Luigi in the areas Thomas wasn't working. Another handed him the scissors.

"Aye," was Tom's response. He quickly got Luigi's helmet off. The man was screaming in pain underneath. Tom gave him a pre-measured dose of pain killer from the first-aid kit directly into his neck. He placed a mask over Luigi's nose and mouth, which started oxygen flowing as well. It Just took a few moments, maybe a minute, for the pain killer to take effect. Once that happened Luigi appeared less prone to go into shock.

Still working on cutting away the lower portion of the surface suit, Thomas ordered Tom, "Get the burn kit out. We are looking at least at second degree and perhaps some third degree burns here." Thomas was not only cutting away the suit material, but the strips of pressure patch that the team had tried to apply to Luigi's surface suit as soon as they realized there was a major breach.

Tom reached into one of the overhead storage cupboards and pulled out the burn kit. He handed it to Thomas. Thomas took it without saying anything and continued to work on the wound. Tom could smell burnt hair, flesh, and fabric. Tom could see the wound. There was blackend skin, blistering, and what looked like surface suit material melted into Luigi's flesh. On top of that there was evidence of decompression injuries on his leg as well. In Tom's non-medical opinion Luigi would be lucky if his leg could be saved.

It was just 7 minutes after they had entered the rover when Thomas stood up and announced, "Well, that is the best I can do for him here. We need to get him back to Medical as quickly as possible. The doctor will need to treat this. At least I think he is stable. That wound reminds me of some of the horrific stuff I saw in the War."

Tom was already in the driver's seat. By the time Thomas had finished his comment the rover was moving - headed back toward the colony.

 _34.3_

Kazira walked into the room which housed Marcipor. Marcipor looked up and said, "Are you here to destroy me Kazira?"

"No," she replied. "What makes you think I would come to destroy you?"

"The way the humans are acting. I have been cut off from all communication. The power system is out. I can do nothing of note. I am unable to leave this place. Now you show up."

Kazira stood up to her full height. "Unit 38 Command Sequence Ent.."

Before Kazira could finish her sentence Marcipor was up and hit her hard with an open hand. Kazira hit the wall, bounced off, and now lay facedown and motionless in the room.

Arnison had positioned himself so that he could see Kazira through the doorway. He was out of sight of Marcipor. Arnison saw Kazira take the blow. With that he pressed a button on the EMP emitter. That activated a 30 second timer before detonation. The resulting EMP would not hurt the biological life forms, but Marcipor and any other computers would be fried.

Arnison stepped into the room, "Unit 38, he cried. Command Sequence Enter, 1 alpha, 2 beta, 5 gamma. Comply."

Marcipor turned and then returned to the position on his 'knees' with his torso and head straight up. "Recognized. Arnison, Engineer. Senior grade. Command input on. Ready to receive command."

Arnison took a breath then stated, "Command, reset, system off."

Marcipor resonded, "System shutting down. Use command system when ready to reboot." With that Marcipor fell silent and the Herman body did not move."

Arnison called out to Jaricon and Sazer to come into the room. They had been stationed in the corridor with weapons to take down Marcipor if he managed to escape the room. "Keep Unit 38 covered. I am going to turn off the robot body. If it makes a move to stop me destroy it."

Arnison moved around to the spot where he had been told the switch was located to deactivate the Herman unit. He found it and moved it. Marcipor and Herman were now both shut down. Arnison switched off the EMP device. With his mission accomplished Arnison turned to Kazira.

It was clear to Arnison that Kazira was injured. She was unconscious. The light on her headband was broken. Kneeling down to check her nose he could tell that she was breathing. He gently placed his finger under her right eye. Feeling her pulse reassured him that her heart was still pumping in her chest. He did not like the way her left arm was positioned under her. It might be broken. He desperately hoped that the human doctors could treat his only daughter.

Turning to Jaricon he said, "The humans keep many supplies out here and have a medical facility for incoming travelers. Go and see if you can find something to immobilize Kazira's arm and to carry her." As both Jaricon and Sazer ran off Arnison started checking Kazira's head. As he ran his hand through her hair he could feel a lump and when he pulled his hand away in the light of his headband lamp he could see that there was blood. It appeared to be oozing from the area with the lump.

It only took five minutes but to Arnison it seemed an eternity before Jaricon and Sazer returned with bandages, straps, and a gurney. "Let us do this," Sazer said. "We are properly trained in field medicine. We will get her to the medical facility. Once she is on the gurney I want you to hold her good hand until we get there."

It took a few minutes to gingerly get Kazira onto the gurney. First, Sazer had to examine her arm to determine how best to immobilize it for transport. Jaricon carefully evaluated her head and neck. The bleeding appeared to have stopped, but he was concerned about a concussion. Once she was ready all three lifted Kazira onto the gurney and strapped her down. Then they started for Medical.

Arnison walked next to the gurney holding Kazira's good hand and looking at her face more than watching where he was going. Kazira's eyes opened and she looked at him.

"Papa. I hurt. My head. My arm. They hurt."

"I know," Arnison said while stroking her hand. "The humans are good physicians. We are headed to their medical facility now. I am sure they can help you."

 _34.4_

Thomas was sitting directly behind Tom. He said, "Tom, how are we going to get Luigi to Medical? We can't get in through the garage airlock. There is no power. We can't open the door!"

"There is an older manual airlock over in the corner," Tom replied. "It won't allow us to get a rover into the garage. It is, however, about triple the size of the rover's air lock. Every rover is equipped with two rescue balls. We will put Luigi in one and take him through the airlock that way."

"That is going to hurt like hell," Thomas remarked.

Tom responded, "The alternative is worse."

"True," Thomas admitted.

Driving over a small rise Tom could see the colony, and specifically the garage, ahead of him. It would only be a few minutes before they got there. "Prep Luigi for the move," Tom shouted as he looked for the manual door.

Despite the powerful pain killers Luigi yelped as he was maneuvered into a fetal position and the rescue ball was put around him. Tom couldn't hear him anymore once the ball was closed and pressurized. Tom felt bad for Luigi, but there was simply not an alternative. He parked the rover and made certain that the rover's airlock was pressurized.

Maneuvering Luigi out the rover's airlock was awkward for the crew and painful for Luigi. Having someone inside a rescue ball in a rover airlock meant that there was really only room for one other, though they managed to squeeze two others in as well. The ball was compressed and it touched Luigi's burns. The airlock had to be cycled twice to get everyone through.

Once he and the rest of the second group were through the rover's airlock, Tom sprinted over to the garage's manual airlock. This was going to be a challenge, but he was glad this backup system existed! A mechanical gauge showed that the pressure inside the airlock was the same as standard habitat pressure. Looking in the small window Tom could see that the inner door was closed. This allowed him to open a bleed valve next to the outer door to expel the air in the airlock. This took a couple of minutes. He was able to unseal the door, which opened in before opening out, like the door on an airplane. Finally, as the crew moved Luigi into the airlock, Tom closed the bleed valve so that they could pressurize the airlock.

Stepping inside was like entering a living room compared to the rover's airlock. This space was designed to hold at least a dozen people and some equipment. Tom closed the outer door and secured it. Next he looked for the pressurization valve. He found the handle for it right under the internal pressure gauge. He turned the handle and could hear the hissing of air as the chamber pressurized. Looking at the mechanical gauge, Tom allowed the pressure to increase until it reached the point equal to the pressure in the garage. When the needle hit the mark Tom closed the valve - he wondered if it was possible to increase the pressure beyond this point or if there was a safety mechanism to prevent overpressure in the airlock. He would have to ask maintenance to find out. With all of the pressures equalized Tom was able to open the inner door of the airlock, which again opened into the garage before opening into the airlock space. Finally back in the habitat Tom stepped into the garage and stood aside as Thomas and the others carried Luigi over the threshold.

The inky blackness of the garage was disconcerting. This portion was walled off and there was none of the natural sunlight the rest of the garage enjoyed. Inside of the airlock everyone had switched their helmet lights on. Tom swept his around the area where they stood. He spotted a cart, which was usually used for moving equipment or supplies to the rovers. Tom ran over to it, grabbed the handle and wheeled it back to the group. "Here, put Luigi on this. It isn't padded like a gurney, but you can at least get him to Medical faster and without trying to carry him all the way. Maybe you can get him out of the ball as well."

"Thanks Tom," Thomas replied. "Let's try it!"

The crew was not able to completely extract Luigi from the ball. However, they were able to get him stretched out on the cart. One person had to walk along with the cart just to hold excess material and gear from the ball itself. Still, the trip to Medical was much faster and less painful for Luigi than if they had been carrying him in the ball.

 _34.5_

Casualties seemed to arrive at Medical almost simultaneously. When they started arriving Dr. Gupta, the senior physician, ordered the emergency medical power system to be turned on. At least they had some light! First came minor injuries, which were mostly people tripping over things and then falling. Given the age of the people in the colony the doctor was just glad no one seemed to have broken a hip! It looked like the worst injury was just going to need a couple of stitches.

Then Kazira arrived. Sazer and Jarison were pushing the gurney. Arnison nearly shouted, "Kazira is injured. We need help. Where is the doctor?"

"I am right here," Dr. Gupta responded calmly. "Let me have a look at her. Tell me what happened."

As Arnison was telling the doctor about Marcipor causing the injuries, Luigi arrived. Dr. Gupta turned from Arnison and saw Luigi's wounds. Without missing a beat she said, "Nurse, look after Kazira. I want CT and MRI on her stat! Arnison, go tell the Commander that Marcipor is down. We need power and data now." Looking at the other two aliens she asked, "Do either of you have any medical training?"

Jaricon responded, "Both Sazer and I are trained to help the injured in the field and get them to more capable medical help."

"Good. Assist the nurse. We do not know your anatomy and physiology. But we will do everything we can to help." Turning and looking at Luigi it didn't take the doctor more than 30 seconds to say, "Prep the operating room. Make certain there is a major burn kit in there!"

People were at a near run in the medical unit as the doctor continued barking orders. Luigi was quickly extricated from the rescue ball and transferred to a proper medical gurney. His vital signs were taken and an IV started. The doctor administered more pain killer and a mild sedative. This helped further stabilize Luigi and keep him from going into shock. As soon as he was stable they moved him into the operating room. The doctor wanted to get Luigi's burns treated as quickly as possible.

While Luigi was being treated in the operating room the nurse was trying to get vitals on Kazira. Looking at Jaricon she said, "OK, what is a normal temperature for you? What about blood pressure? Heart rate?"

Jaricon answered, "I do not know on your human scales."

"OK, then we are going to do this: Both of you come here." The nurse grabbed a thermometer that measured temperature in the ear. She took temperatures from both aliens and then took Kazira's. "Well, you all appear to be within 0.1 degree of each other, so unless you are all sick I will assume that Kazira's temperature is normal. Next, how do you measure blood pressure and pulse rate for your species?"

Jaricon explained taking both pulse and blood pressure. The nurse again took both the uninjured aliens' blood pressure and then Kazira's. Kazira's was a bit high, but at least in a human that was to be expected. The same was true for pulse. Then she got about the task of getting the imaging.


	35. Future Chapters

I hope that you are enjoying this Daria adventure as it unfolds. Please fell free to write a review! I will be posting new chapters on an irregular basis as they are ready.

 _Please note:_ _The characters in this story are fictional and are the property of MTV. They are used without expressed permission. This work is fan fiction and was created purely for the enjoyment of the author and those who choose to read it. This is not for sale and no income is to be derived from it._


End file.
